


We Are Not Heroes

by jordahparrish



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Bad Guys Shadowhunters, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Good Guys Downworlders, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, This is so cute and fluffy i swear, although there shall be, but plenty of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-09-10 18:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 59,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8928301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordahparrish/pseuds/jordahparrish
Summary: After an odd incident, Jace, Alec, and others find themselves harnassing odd abilities. They quickly decide to use their abilities against the renowned Warlock, a overrated superhero who barely knows the mistakes he's made in the past.





	1. Origins

People aren’t born good or evil, they’re born neutral - their upbringings affect their outlook on life, and the Lightwood children weren’t exactly brought up in a heavenly environment. They could have been good guys, knowing through experience that bad treatment hurt, but why be good when there’s so much fun being evil?

The incident that caused the powers wasn’t exactly explained, but that didn’t make much of a difference. Izzy, Alec and Jace were at their local training gym when the accident happened. Alec found himself on the floor after a sudden flash of light and force. Izzy was underwater, she quickly swum up to the surface and looked around in horror. Jace was still standing when he opened his eyes, he had been pushed back against the wall by the force. They easily forgot about it to begin with, but when things started to change, they couldn’t ignore the odd incident.

Jace had somehow managed to make his way from his bedroom to the kitchen in less than a second, and he hadn’t mentioned it until Alec brought up the odd incident he had when he set a pile on leaves on fire with a flick of his hand. Jace quickly explained to him what he was going through. 

“We’re just like that guy, what’s he called?”

“That Warlock guy?” Alec scoffed, “I hate that guy, he’s so ‘Mr. I’m the best of the best’, just because he’s saved a few people. Why hasn’t anyone tried to take him off his high horse?”

“Because he’s an appreciated hero, he saves the day.”

Alec rolled his eyes, “he caused a disaster because he was busy saving one person. Nobody mentions it.”

“Bad things happen.”

“He’s a bad person, and people refuse to see it,” Alec growled out.

“What are you two on about?” Alec jumped when he heard his sister approaching the table they were sat at.

“Have you experienced anything odd recently?” Jace pointed to Izzy as he asked the question.

Izzy shook her head, “not since that moment I blacked out in the pool, why?”

“It’s good, the water must have protected you from whatever happened,” Alec mumbled, he looked to Jace, “that moment had to be the cause.”

“You’re right,” Jace nodded, “I was on the treadmill at the time.”

“Speed, makes sense.”

“What?” Izzy looked between the two boys in confusion. 

“What were you doing?” Jace asked Alec and Alec cocked his head to think.

“I was near the relaxation area, by that little firepit they have, which also makes a hell load of sense.”

”Guys!” Izzy slammed her hand on the table, “what are you talking about?”

”Don’t worry,” Alec replied.

“Tell me right now or I will shove my finest pair of stiletto heels straight up both of your asses, heel first,” she glared at them both and waited. 

The brothers shared a look, after a moment Jace sighed and leaned closer to their sister, “Alec and I have… Abilities. Like that Warlock guy.”

“You have powers!”

Both of the boys rushed to silence Izzy, “don’t say that so loudly, we can’t let mom or dad hear,” Alec waved his hand at Izzy as he spoke, “or Max…”

“You’re not going to be goody two shoes like that freaking Warlock, right?”

”No,” Jace stood up from his seat and grinned, “we’re going to show people how ridiculous they are believing that this stupid Warlock guy can save their lives.”

Alec was grinning with Jace, “yes! That exactly!”

”You need costumes and names,” Izzy held out her hands to the two boys, “you wait a little while and I can conjure some outfits up in no time. Name wise… How about uh… The Fast and The Furious,” Izzy snorted out with a laugh, “no, no, I’m kidding - how about Flamethrower and Rush,” Izzy shrugged, Alec and Jace looked at each other and nodded.

“Flamethrower and Rush it is,” Alec nodded.

“Even though Rush is dangerously close to thrush,” Jace mumbled under his breath.

“Shut up,” Izzy batted Jace’s shoulder playfully.

* * * * * 

“Stupid plants,” Clary hissed to herself as she reached out for the dead flower on the windowsill of the shop, she jumped back when the dead flower grew back to full health in response to her touch. She raised an eyebrow and looked over to another dead flower, slowly she moved her hand towards it and before she could even touch it, it was alive again. 

She glanced over her shoulder, making sure her mother wasn’t around, when she knew it was clear she waved her hand at another flower and watched as it did exactly the same as the other flowers.

“What the hell?” She looked up for a split second and saw a trio across the road, watching her, she jumped back and rushed into the store. The trio had seen her bringing dead flowers back to life - what would they think?

She only looked back when the bell of the door rang, the trio from across the street had entered the shop. She gasped as she examined them.

Whoever they were, they were all hot.

“Nice work with the plant,” the girl with long dark hair smiled as she placed her hand on her hips, “my name’s Izzy, these are my brother’s, Alec and Jace - soon to be known as Flamethrower and Rush,” she waved a hand to the two boys.

“What?”

Izzy looked at Alec with a smile and the boy rolled his eyes before flicking up his hand and producing a small flame, and then Jace was by Clary’s side in a second.

“We have special abilities, much like you with that plant.”

“You have no evidence that I have special abilities,” Clary crossed her arms, “I’m a freak who just brought a bunch of dead plants back to life,” she was quiet as she spoke - knowing her mother could be anywhere.

”Like that show Pushing Daisies,” Jace clicked his fingers, “but the question is - is your power to do with life and death or plants?”

Clary shook her head, “this is st-stupid, you guys need to leave.”

“That houseplant,” Izzy pointed to a specific plant in the corner, “it’s not dead… but can you do something with it? Force it to grow or something.”

“Oh, oh,” Jace clapped his hands together, “like uh… What’s her name, the really cute girl from Sky High.”

“Layla,” Clary turned to Jace with a raised eyebrow, “I guess she was always my favourite…”

“Do something to the plant, little girl,” Alec didn’t look at Clary, he focused on the plant. Clary waved her hand at the plant and watched in amazement as it grew and twisted around itself, she waved her hand and managed to make the overgrown plant hit Alec around the head. The plant shrunk back to normal size on her command, leaving Clary, Izzy and Jace almost crying with laughter. Alec didn’t find it as funny, “okay she controls nature.”

“Sweet,” Izzy moved towards Clary, “and tell me sweetie, what’s your opinion on that goody two shoes Warlock?”

“He ruined our shop once,” Clary suddenly became angry, “threw someone through the window, we only just got it all fixed up, it cost my mom a lot of money. Sure he apologised, but that doesn’t make it better, he was so busy fightin.”

“So,” Alec had his hand pressed against the side of his face, where the plant had hit him, “you’d be willing to join us? We want to prove to the world, or at least to Brooklyn, that the Warlock is not the hero everyone thinks he is.”

Clary began to grin, “I’d love to join you.”

* * * * *

Simon scoffed as he ran his finger across the desk that was lost in dust, “Raph, have you even tried to keep the place clean at all?”

“Shut up,” Raphael responded from the sofa where he was relaxing, “you weren’t here so it didn’t need to look pretty.”

“I was with Warlock.”

“I know,” Raphael tossed the magazine he was reading to the side, he stood up from the sofa and made his way over to Simon, “tell me little Fledgeling,” he ran a hand down Simons’s chest, “who did you save today?”

“I didn’t save anyone today,” Simon let out a laugh, “tell me what Encanto got up to?”

“Encanto stayed at home and read about the latest fashion, oh hey did you know that this Jamie Doorman guy was voted sexiest guy alive?”

“Not his name for a start,” Simon pulled a face.

”He’s not even that hot,” Raphael continued, “Dios mío, these people are stupid. I should use my powers to make them realise that.”

“That would be a waste,” Simon tutted, he batted a hand at Raphael and made the other man wince, “Alpha wants us to meet at the Jade Wolf at five, you in?”

“It wouldn’t be a Downworlders meeting without the beauty that is Encanto,” Raphael falsely bowed, making Simon roll his eyes.

“You’re stupid.”

Raphael glared at Simon and held up his hand, ready to use his powers but Simon gave him a look that simply said ‘bitch please’. The two men eventually began to laugh with each other.

“I could never Encanto you, then our love would be a lie.”

“I don’t love you,” Simon deadpanned, when Raphael’s eyebrow quirked up, he began to smile, “okay, maybe a litle bit.”

“That’s not what you said last week,” Raphael winked.

“Ew, shut up,” Simon waved his hands at Raphael. They both began to laugh again until finally, Raphael pulled Simon in for a kiss.

“Imagine if the world knew that Encanto and Fledgeling were an item.”

“Fledgecanto,” Simon whispered, Raphael only reacted by flicking Simon’s ear. 

* * * * *

Luke cleared his throat as he approached Magnus, “you know most employees don’t fix their makeup on the job,” he placed his hands on his hips and then leaned closer, “besides can’t you just flick your hand to give yourself a makeover?”

“If I could, don’t you think I’d do that already?” Magnus retorted, “besides, I saw a cute guy on my way in and I figured it was plausible that he could visit us any time.”

“Oh Magnus, cute boys don’t read books anymore,” Tessa - his co-worker with long black and grey ombred hair - commented as she passed him, “and you guys need to keep cautious about this whole Alpha and Warlock thing, your whispering is not as quiet as you think.”

“She’s always smarter than us,” Magnus blinked and looked to Luke, “how?”

“I don’t need powers to be one step ahead of you,” Tessa whispered as she reached between the two men to grab a book, “we got a call in to reserve this book for Jocelyn Fray,” she waved it in front of Magnus, “or as you might know her ‘the owner of the floral and art store you smashed up’.”

“It was an accident, Warlock explained that to her,” Magnus shrugged, “my powers go to a certain extent, I couldn’t do anything to put it back together.”

“I’ll take that,” Luke grabbed the book from Tessa’s hands, “I’ve been meaning to talk to Jocelyn in a while.”

“Haven’t spoken since their date night,” Tessa informed Magnus quickly, “also known as ‘the date Luke fucked up’.”

“You are so close to being fired,” Luke joked, narrowing his eyes at Tessa.

“Please, I’m your favourite employee,” Tessa rolled her eyes and began to walk away confidently.

Magnus stared at the young woman and then looked back up to Luke, “you need to tell her that she’s wrong about that.”

“She’s not,” Luke commented before following Tessa’s path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: The Tempest  
> There is someone else who is trying to take down Warlock.  
> (There is also dorky delivery boys, tragic back stories, stupid brothers and more)


	2. The Tempest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec is glad Izzy doesn't have powers, but Izzy has some news for him. Meanwhile, The Tempest starts a new battle with Warlock.

“I’m just glad Izzy hasn’t got powers.”

Izzy leaned back against the wall when she heard those words.

“She wouldn’t know what to do with them.”

Now she was just angry, how could Alec be saying that behind her back. She was trying to help them with their abilities and yet there he was - only bitching about his own sister. She clenched her fists and stayed silent, wanting to know what else he could possibly say about her.

“We got lucky, she’s better off as the brains of our cause rather than the body,” Alec’s voice was low, he was obviously trying to be secretive. 

“What if she does?” A friendly voice pitched in. Clary.

“She doesn’t.”

“The incident took place about two weeks ago, some people’s abilities developed straight after it, like that…” Clary paused, obviously on thought, “Tempest, the girl who created the storm! The girl who came crashing through our store when Warlock tried to take her down.”

“Tempest, she won’t like Warlock much.” 

Izzy pushed herself away from the wall now the topic had changed, she had to prove she could fight with them. She enjoyed being the brains but she wanted to fight, one more body was better than one more brain when it came to fighting. She could be both brains and body, if she only had some power.

Jace was on the treadmills, Alec was by the firepit, Clary had said she was in her mother’s greenhouse. Izzy was in the pool. 

Maybe they were right, perhaps the water stopped whatever force from getting to Izzy. She quietly made her way up the stairs and walked into her room where she had pieces of material draped over practically every surface. Why did she volunteer to make these stupid outfits when she couldn’t even make one for herself. She sat down on her bed and looked at her clock. 13:04. She sat up straight and looked to her closet, the door was ajar. She could see one of her dresses sticking out of the gap, it was a bright green laced dress.

She ran over to the closet and pulled the dress out of the closet, it looked… Perfect for Clary. 

There was no need to spend hours making a costume when this dress was perfect. Besides, what kind of modern villains wore snazzy comic book costumes. She ran out of her own room and into Alec’s, he had a jacket that was perfect, a red leather jacket that he barely ever wore. She found it at the back of his closet.

“I hit the jackpot,” she whispered to herself as she examined the jacket, she thought about Jace. She had no idea what she could gather up for him. She quickly made her way down the stairs to the kitchen where the trio were still gathered, “costumes are overrated.”

Clary raised an eyebrow when she saw the green dress, “ah, I see, because of plants.”

“You haven’t even got a name yet,” Izzy commented as she passed the dress to Clary, “I was thinking ‘Envy’.”

“Cute,” Clary smiled, scrunching up her nose as she did so, “like… Green with envy, right?”

“Exactly,” Izzy nodded, “that dress is mine, I saw it and I knew it would suit you.”

“I have a pair of green leggings in the same shade,” Clary replied, “but… won’t people recognise us?”

“For that, you wear masks. I know this gorgeous mask shop down the road from your mother’s shop,” she was grinning.

“But whoever we buy the masks from will know who we are.”

Izzy shook her head, “John would never rat on me or my friends.”

* * * * *

“Here’s your newest delivery.”

Lydia smiled to the young man who placed the box on the counter, “thank you so much, Jonas.”

“You’re welcome,” he nodded to Lydia and paused for a moment, “I never see anyone else working here.”

“I run it myself,” Lydia replied with a laugh, “you’ve been delivering to me for a month now Jonas, and yet you still know so little about me.”

Jonas nodded and raised an eyebrow, “true. So why is the shop called Monteverde’s?”

“John Monteverde, my former fiance.”

“Oh, you broke up?”

“He died.”

Jonas went silent, he cleared his throat nervously, “oh I’m…”

”Don’t be sorry Jonas,” Lydia let out a small giggle, “if anyone should be sorry, it would be Warlock.”

“Warlock,” Jonas cocked his head to the side, “the superhero guy?”

“Everyone thinks he’s a God,” Lydia pulled a face, “and I sure did at first but… You remember that subway accident?”

“The one where Warlock saved everyone?”

“Not everyone,” Lydia looked down at the ring that was still on her finger, “he didn’t save John.”

Jonas pressed his lips together, “heroes are only capable of so much, Lydia.”

”I’m aware, but everyone says that he saved everyone that day - the fact is, he didn’t.”

The blond nodded his head quickly, “I understand.”

A moment of silence passed between the pair, until finally Lydia spoke, “anyway, thank you for the package, I’ll see you next time I order a bunch of stuff,” she winked to Jonas.

“Make it soon,” Jonas whispered, he waved quickly and rushed to the door. Lydia watched him step to the side as a group of friends walked into the store, she picked up the box when Jonas finally left the store and place it underneath the counter.

“Colour arranged, how much time do these people have,” she heard one of the boys whisper.

“Plenty of it,” she responded, leaning forward, “although it would be far better if I had super speed.”

The blond boy of the group let out an awkward ‘ha’, which earned him a glare from the other three.

“What are you guys looking for?” She moved around the counter.

“Simple masks,” the girl with dark hair responded, she cocked her head curiously, “where’s John?”

Lydia let out a small sigh, she avoided eye contact, “you knew John?”

“I came here a few times before, where is he?”

“Six feet under,” she answered in a low voice, “the masks you’re looking for are over there,” she pointed towards the back of the store.

The two boys and the redhead went in the direction suggested to them, but the dark haired girl stayed in front of Lydia, “h-he’s gone?”

“That stupid subway accident a few months back.”

The girl’s eyes went wide, “people always said…”

“That Warlock saved everyone, that was bullshit,” Lydia moved back to the counter and ran her hand along it, deep in thought, “he saved almost everyone, the media doesn’t give a shit about the man who did die that day.”

“That’s awful.”

“I know,” she hissed quietly, “which is why I refuse to give into the stupid Warlock craze.”

“I like this girl,” the tall boy with dark hair commented as he approached the counter, “you don’t like Warlock, neither do we.”

“Really? It’s hard finding people who think the same way,” Lydia began to smile, “I’m Lydia Branwell, proud owner and sole worker here at Monteverde’s.”

“Alec,” the tall boy held out his hand, “proud hater of Warlock.”

“Izzy,” the girl next to him grinned, “his little sister.”

“We’ve got the perfect masks,” the redhead rushed over to the counter with three masks, a intricately designed green mask with a flower placed on the side, a plain black mask and a plain silver mask.

“Nice,” Izzy grinned.

”What are these for again?” Lydia’s eyebrow quirked up, “because they’re not exactly masquerade ball m-”

“It doesn’t matter,” the blond boy interrupted, making Lydia jump, “we’re just here to purchase and then be on our way.”

Lydia nodded and picked up the three masks, she scanned them quickly and smiled up to the group, “that’s $65.”

“Wow,” the blond scoffed, “that’s a lot for some tacky masks.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him, “the green floral mask was handmade by my late fiance,” she sneered, “too much for you? Don’t buy it, and leave the store.”

“No, no,” Izzy waved her hand, “it’s okay. Jace, be nice. I’ve got this,” she pulled out her wallet and paused when a mask caught her eye, “actually,” she nudged the redhead and pointed over to the mask, “can you grab that one?”

“The blue one?”

“Yeah,” she shot her a smile.

“Iz,” Alec leaned down to his sister, thinking he was being quiet but Lydia could still hear him, “you don’t need a mask.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t treat myself,” the girl hissed back.

“You’ll just cost yourself more money, for no reason.”

Lydia smiled to the redhead as the blue mask was placed on the counter, “hey,” she called out to Izzy, “this one is… One of my favourites. Tell you what, you can have the two simple masks for free, that’ll be $70. In total.” Lydia made the offer on behalf of the bright young girl, she couldn’t let her be the odd one out after all.

“Really?” Izzy skipped forward, “that’s awesome! Thank you!” she quickly placed the money in cash on the counter, “thank you so much Lydia and by the way, I love your hair.”

“You’re welcome… And thank you!”

* * * * * 

Izzy examined her new mask with high hopes, something was different since the incident in the pool, she had to be like her brothers, surely. The mask was a beautiful mix of blues. Blue was her favourite colour so no matter what her powers may have been - she’d still wear blue. She was certain of what her powers could be - she was in water at the time.

“I could be like them,” she whispered to herself, “I could.”

“Izzy!” Alec had called from downstairs.

Izzy clutched her mask and ran down the stairs into the living room, Clary, Jace and Alec were gathered around the television.

“Warlock is saving the day again,” Clary grumbled.

“We’re going,” Alec turned to Izzy, “so… Stay here and cover for us.”

“What?” Izzy glared at her brother, “no way, I’m going with you.”

”No you’re not,” Alec ordered, “stay here, cover for Jace and I. We’ll be back soon.”

In the next second, Jace sped the trio away and Izzy turned to the television, it was a live feed of Warlock putting up a fight with Tempest once again. The blonde seemed to be stronger than she was before, Izzy cocked her head to the side. She reached out for the control and paused the live feed. She knelt down in front of the television and examined Tempest. There was a braid that led from the top of her head to the left and around the back of her head. She had seen that hairstyle before, after a second she knew she had seen the mask before as well.

_“I refuse to give into the stupid Warlock craze”_

Lydia?

Izzy jumped up and pressed play again, it jumped to the current events of the live feed, where Tempest had been joined by Jace, Alec and Clary. The reporter had cried something about a new unknown team up. 

Izzy turned the television off and left the room, why did she have to cover for them? Their mother didn’t even care if they left the house. Stupid Alec and his ideas.

She walked through to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, she sat down at the kitchen table and looked at the glass.

“Plain boring Izzy doesn’t save the day,” she mumbled, “the boys get everything, but Izzy gets jack all.”

She stared at the water in the glass and frowned, “come on, just move a little bit,” she held her hand out next to the cup, “please? Just do so-” She screamed as the glass was pushed off of the table by a force of water. The kitchen looked as though a wet dog had shaken dry, Izzy was torn between feeling guilt and feeling gleeful. 

“I just did that! I did that!” She grinned, then the grin dropped to a sudden frown, “oh God, I did that,” she looked around the room before pointing her hand down to the water that had subsided on the floor, she pictured lifting the water up and as she pictured it - it happened. She moved the water through the air and into the kitchen sink. 

Within a few moments, the kitchen was dry again. Izzy jumped up and down in excitement.

“I have powers!”

* * * * *

Jace cocked his head to the side as he stood by Alec’s side, “you realise we don’t have a plan… What so ever.”

“We just fight,” Alec replied in a low voice, “this guy has to have some weakness.”

Tempest appeared next to Jace, “what have you kids got under your belt then?”

“Huh?”

“Powers,” she gave them a look, “come on, tell me.”

”Speed,” Jace nodded.

“Fire.”

“And Nature,” Clary joined in.

“Great, alright Speedy, run circles around him - literally. Create a vacuum and make it impossible for him to breathe,” Tempest order. Jace nodded and did as she asked, “Christmas Twins, keep an eye out for the two vampire guys and the wolf,” she instructed Clary and Alec.

“And what are you going to do?” Alec narrowed his eyes at Tempest, “get all sparky with it?”

“I’m going to take him down when he’s weak.”

“And take away all the fun?” Clary spoke in a pathetic ‘no fun’ tone.

“What are you going to do?” Tempest stepped closer to Clary, “grow a flower to distract him?”

Clary gasped and turned away from Tempest. The blonde woman examined Alec, which only made him uncomfortable.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before,” she looked up into his eyes.

”I don’t think I’ve seen you.”

“Not you,” she snapped, “the mask,” she ran a finger along the edge of the mask, “oh I definitely have, which means… Perhaps I have seen you before,” she narrowed her eyes and looked closer at Alec.

“Wh-what?”

“Oh don’t be so nervous big boy,” the woman laughed and skipped away, “you’ll figure it out later.”

Alec turned back to see Jace running around Warlock still, he could see the hero on his knees struggling to breath - oh was that a joy to see. However, only a second later Jace was taken out by someone else who was equally as fast. 

Alec panicked as he watched the dark haired boy tackle his brother to the ground, he looked over to Tempest who was equally in shock.

“Looks like we’ve got company.”

“Company?”

“My little Fledgeling,” a voice announced, Alec turned and saw a man stood near Tempest, “what are you fools playing at?” As Tempest went to conjure up another storm, the man held up his hand next to Lydia’s face and with a wiggle of the fingers he seemed to catch her off guard. She dropped her hands and stared into his eyes, she was in an odd dreamlike state.

“Who the hell are you?”

”Encanto,” Alec jumped at a voice, he spun around and saw Izzy in a blue bralet and skirt with her matching blue mask covering her eyes, “he’s like a Medusa seducer,” she grinned at her own rhyme.

“What are you doing here?” Alec growled, “I gave you orders.”

“I don’t follow your orders,” she replied, placing her hands on her hips.

”Just get out of the way, you’re no use!”

“Alec-”

”Go!”

“This little gathering, so quaint,” Encanto chuckled as he moved towards Alec. Alec watched as plants sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around Encanto’s ankles. He saw Clary flick her arms and Encanto was pulled to the ground.

“You guys are spending way too long talking,” she hissed, “Warlocks getting back up.”

“I’ve got this,” Izzy stepped forward, looking ready to fight.

“Don’t be stupid,” Alec sneered at her, “just get out of the way, we don’t need you, you’re useless to us,” Alec turned back to Warlock and lifted up his arms, “so Warlock, your little ‘hero’ thing didn’t last very long, sorry for that,” he was about to finally use his powers on Warlock but instead he was shocked when a wave of water washed over him.

”Don’t you dare speak to me like that!” Izzy yelled, she was stood nearby Alec, holding her hands out.

Alec pulled a face and went to use his powers again, this time finding himself unable to, he glared at Izzy and then turned to Clary, “we need to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Identy Crisis  
> The group find out Tempest's identity whilst Warlock's team wonder just what is going on with these new villains.   
> (There shall be fed up girls, more dorky delivery boys standing in as store clerks and also coffee)


	3. Identity Crisis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the first fight with Warlock hits both the bad guys and the good guys equally - meanwhile a quirky delivery boy ends up taking care of Lydia's shop.

”You are an idiot,” Alec hissed as they returned home (after a struggle of getting Tempest to snap out of the Encanto charm, and saving Jace from Fledgeling), “you ruined everything!”

“Don’t talk to me like that Alec,” Izzy snapped back as she pulled off her mask, “I wanted to join you, I wanted to help but you were just ignorant!”

“We could have swiped Warlock off of his feet in seconds,” Alec glared down at this sister, “but you went and fucked it up!”

”All of you shut up,” a voice caught them off guard, the turned to see Tempest stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, “a few things. One, you just revealed your identities to me. Two, this petty argument needs to stop, your sister was eager to help - so let her. Three, Isabelle,” she looked to Izzy, “they now know Alec’s weakness now, he can’t use his powers when he’s wet-”

“That would be far more amusing if you were a girl,” Jace whispered to Alec, only receiving a look from his older brother.

“Finally,” she backed up and looked around at the group, “all of us together, we practically harness the power of the elements, each of us,” a smile showed up on her face, “Earth,” she held out a hand to Clary, “Fire,” she moved it to Alec, “Water,” to Izzy, “and you,” she approached Jace with a playful grin, “you must be air, think about it - it works. So we stick together, no matter what!”

”Yeah but what are you?” Alec narrowed his eyes at Tempest, “the self-proclaimed leader?”

“I’m more like a conductor,” she paused and then began to giggle at last, “get it, lighting, electricity… Conductor-”

”We get it,” Jace responded quickly and without a laugh.

“No, in all honesty, I’m a part of everyone of you,” she shrugged, “or you’re all a part of me.”

“We don’t even know you,” Clary spoke up at last.

“Yes we do,” Izzy skipped to Tempest’s side, “I suppose there is a reason you guys call me the brains - because you guys are stupid,” she placed her hand on Tempest’s mask, “may I?” 

“You may,” Tempest answered, still with a sweet smile on her face.

Izzy slowly removed the mask from Tempest and stood back with a proud grin, “I knew I was right!”

“The Mask shop girl?” Jace cocked his head.

”Lydia,” she corrected him quickly, “gosh, you guys really are numbskulls, aren’t you?”

“No,” Alec reacted quickly, “you’re just… good at disguising?”

“Same braid,” Izzy ran her hand along Lydia’s hair, “and this mask,” she held up the mask with her other hand, “was on the stool behind the counter at the shop. So, I’m the smartest one here,” she looked at Lydia, “hide your mask better next time sweetie.”

“Lesson here,” Lydia lifted her head up suddenly, “let’s not be sloppy.”

* * * * *

Magnus groaned as Raphael sat him down on his sofa, he leaned back, remembering the moment where he struggled to breathe. The speeding blur had trapped him in some type of vortex and it was barely possible to move let alone breathe. 

“You’re weakening,” Raphael taunted, “what happened out there?”

”I tried so hard,” Magnus whispered, “but that stupid blur stopped me from breathing.”

“He goes by Rush,” Simon informed as he walked into the room, he was now in a t-shirt that said ‘seize the gay’ with a flannel shirt thrown over the top and to finish his look - his signature ‘nerd’ glasses (which he genuinely needed when he was out of his Fledgeling state, ironically for a super vampire hybrid, he was as blind as a bat), “Rush, Flamethrower, Envy and… That water gun girl.”

“How quaint,” Raphael mumbled, falling down next to Magnus, “what’s their goal?”

“No clue,” Simon mumbled as he scanned through his phone, “hey I’ve got to go, Clary wants to meet me for coffee, best friends catch up. I keep cancelling our meet ups for these silly ‘save the day’ moments, so I’m taking the chance whilst I can. See you later.”

He waved to the two men and left the building, passing by Luke, Tessa and Maia as he did so.

“That boy always throws me,” Maia mumbled, “how does he look so different from his Fledgeling state?”

“The power of the dork,” Raphael responded, “so what’s up today?”

”We came to see how Magnus was doing,” Luke answered as he crouched down in front of his employee.

“Never mind I was flipped over by a plant,” Raphael stood up, “do you guys want anything to drink? Or eat?”

“We’re fine,” they answered in unison.

“Are you okay though?” Luke turned to Magnus, placing a careful hand over his, “that boy-”

“Literally took my breath away, I’m aware,” Magnus rolled his eyes, “it was the explosion that cause it, wasn’t it? These new villains we have to face.”

“Perhaps,” Maia spoke in a guilty tone, “but hey, it’s not like we knew it was going to blow…”

“Simon did warn you,” Raphael grumbled as he walked back to the group, “then again, I wouldn’t listen to him either if I had the choice.”

“He did,” Maia mumbled, “I suppose it’s happened now.”

“You need to take ownership,” Luke stood up, “tell them there was an accident at the lab.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Magnus waved his hand, “why are they so against us?”

”White people,” Maia commented, “most of them were white anyway. White people are always angry for no reason - it’s a fact.”

Tessa grinned at the young girl, “you are my favourite person, you know that?”

”Well now I do.”

“Can we stop flirting and get to the point?” Magnus grumbled, “there are villains out there that are trying to stop me from helping people.”

“As I said, White People,” Maia sat down next to Magnus, “do you want a cuddle?”

“No,” he pouted and crossed his arms, “I want justice.”

The group began to laugh at Magnus’s attitude, “we’ll get the bad guys Magnus, don’t you worry,” Tessa stroked his hair and then placed a kiss on his forehead.

* * * * *

Jonas hummed playfully as he made his way into Lydia’s store again, he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t the favourite part of his day.

“Parcel for my favourite blonde!” He called out, thinking Lydia must have been in the back room. He placed the parcel on the counter and waited… And waited… And waited… 

“Lydia? You know being alone with all these masks is giving me the creeps…”

He frowned and ventured around the counter, he didn’t know what to do and when he heard the bell on the door, he jumped onto the stool and smiled as though he was supposed to be there. A couple walked in, amazed by the sight of the masks.

“This place is like a dream,” she gasped and rushed over to the counter, “hi, I need to find like… The most beautiful mask, no matter what cost - we’re getting married,” she waved between her and her fiance, “and our reception theme is Masquerade.”

Jonas hesitated - thank God the confidence fooled the couple, he moved around the counter and tapped his chin thoughtfully, “something beautiful that could work for you - what does your dress look like?”

“It’s a mermaid style with a sweetheart neckline,” she motioned with her hands, “Ivory, of course.”

“Right, right,” Jonas took notes in his head and leaned on the counter, he could totally pull this off, “and would you want it to contrast or to match?”

“Match,” she nodded.

“Okay, wait here, I’ll find what you’re looking for.”

He scanned through the colour coded Venetian type masks and then reached up for an intricate lace styled mask, he carefully took the mask over to the woman, “how about this one?”

“Cute,” she whispered, “beautiful.”

“That’s totally the one,” the man finally pitched in, “It’s perfect for you, babe.”

“And for the mister,” Jonas playfully sung slightly, “what would you like?”

“I’m wearing the traditional black suit.”

“A black mask to match?”

“That’d be perfect,” he nodded, “maybe just something plain and like… sleek.”

“Sleek,” Jonas repeated with a raised eyebrow, “okay then,” he rushed over to collect what the man wanted and quickly returned to the counter, “I bought a similar one not too long ago, this is very sleek - attracts the ladies,” he joked, “not that you’ll be wanting to attract any ladies since you’ll be married… It was a joke… I didn’t even attract any ladies, but Lydia said it looked good when I tried it on.”

“Lydia,” the girl tilted her head curiously, “lady friend?”

“No,” Jonas snorted, “oh no, not yet anyway… She’s the owner of the shop.”

“Ah,” the man let out a small laugh, “how sweet, you work for your crush.”

“Well not exactly,” Jonas mumbled - he knew they wouldn’t have heard so he just quickly looked at the prices on the masks, he had seen Lydia list off prices without a second glance, that woman was a wonder. He quickly added the prices and gave the couple a smile, “That’ll be $35.”

“Really?” The boy raised his eyebrows, “that’s less than I expected to be honest,” he shrugged and reached into his pocket. He passed the money to Jonas and smiled, “we may be back some time, this place is cute.”

”I’ll be sure to tell Lydia,” he nodded quickly and watched as they left. He frowned, where was Lydia? 

He probably should have left, Ragnor would be expecting him back - but there was no way he was leaving the store open and empty. He tapped on the counter and began to hum to himself again - he was thankful that the store wasn’t highly popular. He leaned over the counter and let out a groan, who knew how long he could be waiting for Lydia, and wasn’t that just… Life?

The bell on the door rang again and Jonas jumped back into focus.

“Shit, I left it open?” 

“Lydia!” He cheered upon seeing the blonde - and yes, he did make her jump.

“Christ!” She spun around.

“Actually it’s just me, Jonas,” he joked as he skilfully jumped over the counter, “I missed you.”

“Why are you even here?”

”New parcel, I was going to leave but then a couple came in and I sold them some masks - you made $35 by the way.”

“Thanks?” Lydia cocked her head to the side.

”But I didn’t know how to use the cash register so it’s on the counter still,” he shrugged, “where were you? You never leave your shop unmanned.”

“I was… Uh… Running an errand,” she cleared her throat, “wait, I didn’t order anything.”

“You didn’t, I ordered it for you,” as he spoke Jonas noticed her hand kept carefully over her bag, he then looked back up to Lydia. He approached her slowly, “your braid is loose,” he gave her a look which seemed to say ‘can I adjust it?’ and then lifted his hand to neaten up her braid. He gave her a reassuring smile as he drew his hand away from her.

Lydia seemed speechless for a moment, she stared at Jonas before finally managing to speak, “I… Thank you for looking after the shop, that was very sweet of you,” she shrugged, “and… Thanks for the parcel, I’ll see you next time.”

“Right,”” Jonas looked down for a split second, he then awkwardly began backing away, earning a giggle from Lydia as he did so, “I will… See you with your next parcel, next time. Bye!”

Once Jonas was gone, Lydia rushed into the back room of the store and placed her bag on the floor. She knelt down beside it and unzipped it, glancing around as though someone could have been present. She lifted the mask from the bag and searched around for a place to hide it, she et her eyes on a drawer and quickly opened it. It was empty so she placed the mask in with care and closed it.

She glanced over her shoulder to the bag that was on the floor, she knew she could keep the secret, easily. She didn’t exactly have any friends, no relatives who spoke to her either. She had the group of elements and Jonas the delivery boy, who would remain none the wiser of her identity.

* * * * *

Clary sat down opposite Simon, she felt as though she hadn’t seen him in years - it may as well have been years at this rate, “I missed you so much,” she cooed as she leaned forward on the table, “what have you been up to lately?”

“This may sound like a cop out answer, but not much. I mostly lounge around with Raphael, we’re thinking of adopting a puppy!”

“Aw, please do it,” Clary clapped her hands together.

“I want to get a boy puppy and name him ‘Sir Snifflebottom’.”

“Okay, please don’t,” Clary covered her mouth as she laughed.

”What have you been up to?”

”I’ve been spending a while sorting out my mother’s shop thanks to Warlock throwing Tempest through the window.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” Simon pushed his glasses up as he spoke, “she started that big electrical storm right? Took out the power grid,” he pressed his lips together, “and apparently tried to hit Warlock with lightning several times.”

Clary frowned, “he hurt her, when he threw her through the window. She managed to get up and leave but I could see she was in pain.”

“Bad guys,” Simon shrugged.

”What if,” Clary began slowly, “Warlock’s the bad guy? Like what if it’s all a facade?”

Simon let out a ‘pfft’ noise, “Warlock saves people, Clary.”

Clary shrugged and took a sip of her drink, “if you say so… Listen, I refuse to argue with my best friend about this Warlock guy. Let’s talk about happy stuff again.”

“Of course, have you seen anyone lately? Like…”

”There’s this girl I talk to,” Clary traced patterns on the table with her finger, “she’s really smart and super cute.”

“Oh? In the words of Grease, tell me more, tell me more.”

”She’s got really long dark hair, possibly the most beautiful girl you’ll ever see. She’s a genius, she’s witty, she’s sweet…”

“What’s her name?”

“Izzy,” Clary let out a dreamy sigh as she whispered the name.

“Oh, Clary and Izzy sitting in a tree,” Simon sang with a grin, “I’m so glad you’ve finally found someone Clary, you deserve happiness.”

“I don’t know if she likes me back, I don’t even know if she likes girls.”

Simon watched Clary with a grin, “well I wish you all the best with her.”

* * * * *

Magnus had returned to the book shop not too long after the ‘breathtaking incident’, for Magnus his work was important. He was placing a book on the shelf, too exhausted to use his powers. He was proud of how easy it was to disguise himself, as Warlock he wore a hood that shadowed his face from the public, but when he was himself he wore thick cardigans or sweatshirts, plus a pair of glasses - yeah the total image did look kind of dorky, but he had been told multiple times that he looked adorable in them. He had been in silence in the shop, Tessa and Luke were in the back room discussing something with Maia. The silence was beautiful.

He jumped when the bell above the door broke the silence. 

He peeked around the corner of the shelf and - once again - he lost his breath. The boy that had walked in was stunning, tall, dark hair. Magnus’s type apparently. The tall boy was wearing a black jeans and a black sweatshirt - simple. He looked around curiously and Magnus finally decided to step out from the shelf. The tall boy jumped.

“Hi, sorry to scare you. I work here and you look confused,” Magnus greeted, awkwardly, “what are you looking for?”

“Uh,” the boy stumbled through several words before actually making sense, “just c-curious…”

“Ah,” Magnus nodded, “well they’re each arranged into sections, this half his non-fiction and that half is fiction,” he pointed to each half of the story, “and each subcategory is listed at the side of the shelves, as you can see,” he pointed to the list of subcategories.

“Oh cool,” the boy whispered.

“So,” Magnus began after a moment of silence, “what’s your name?”

“Huh?”

”Your name,” Magnus repeated, “I need to know so I can scream it later,” he let out a laugh and shot the boy an apologetic look.

The boy seemed to appreciate the joke, “Alec. And yours, since I’ll probably end up doing the same.”

“Magnus,” he grinned and held out his hand to Alec, pleased to see that the boy had the same humour, “so what are you most interested in? Fiction, non-fiction?”

“Drinks?” Alec didn’t seem to know was he was saying, Magnus still raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we have books on mixing drinks and-”

“N-no, I mean. I’m interested in taking you,” he gave a sweet smile and then his eyes widened in realisation, “out for drinks!”

“Well you can take me too,” Magnus mumbled, looking up to let out a chuckle, “so you’re asking me out on a date?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Alec nodded quickly, “yeah, on a date… With drinks and stuff…”

“I’d love to go on a date with you,” he answered quickly, “stop by the shop tonight at seven, I’ll be closing up,” he winked and hen turned his back. He paused, sensing Alec was still behind him. 

Alec had stepped closer to him, somewhat hesitant, “can I uh… Get a book?”

Magnus chuckled and glanced over his shoulder again, “well, you are in a book store.”

“I… I know,” Alec joined in the laughter, “but I mean like… Can you suggest something for me?”

Magnus was amused by this boy, he was tall, adorable and precious, “of course I can,” he waved for Alec to follow him and made his way over to the fiction section, “how about some adult fantasy? They’re tacky, but amusing.”

Alec shook his head, “I don’t think so,” he laughed loudly, “maybe something… Not so adult?”

”Not so adult?”

“I can’t read adult novels, they always seem so cringey - I swear there’s one where a woman like… Has sex with a horse.”

“Ah, yes,” Magnus laughed, “Tessa read that once - she said it was a better love story than Twilight.”

Alec let out a laugh which was… Far more like a giggle - and his eyes lit up, it was beautiful. Never mind slowly falling in love, Magnus had just gone full on Felix Baumgartner when he fell for the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: In A Rush  
> Another attempt at a battle with Warlock interrupts Alec's date with the sweetheart Magnus, and someone know far more than expected!  
> (includes sudden approaches to dating, Izzy's angst and my smol child Jonas)


	4. In A Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia and Jace come up with a plan, Alec and Magnus's date is interupted and Jonas is wiser than he seems.

Izzy refused to talk to Alec, not until he understood that she could help them in their cause. It wasn’t fair. Sure, she was his younger sister and he was meant to be protective, but she knew she had potential to help. She was lying on her bed, focusing on the ceiling. After a long time of silence, she heard the door open.

“Izzy.”

It was her brother. Not Alec, or Jace. It was Max.

“Hey Maxxie,” she sat up and put on a smile, “what’s up?”

“I’m fine,” he answered with matching smile, but it then dropped, “but you’re not, why?”

Izzy hesitated, her brother always knew when she was upset, “it doesn’t matter too much Maxxie, don’t you worry about it.”

“Your happiness matters to me Iz,” he climbed onto Izzy’s bed and cuddled up to her side, “please tell me.”

“Alec doesn’t see my potential,” she replied eventually, “he won’t let me help him.”

”He needs help?” Max pulled back, obviously concerned for his older brother.

“Not drastically,” Izzy let out a small giggle, “just with something… Maxxie, do you think I have what it takes to… Be something?”

“Of course, I think you could be the best person ever Iz!” Max threw out his arms, “you could be better than Warlock!”

Izzy laughed, it was as though Max knew the truth, “you think?”

“Yeah, Izzy. You’re the best ever! And the prettiest. You’re like, the prettiest of pretty.”

“Aw Maxxie, thanks.”

“Are you a mermaid, Iz?” Max asked in full innocence.

“A mermaid,” Izzy repeated, suddenly deep in thought. She could manipulate water, her powers revolved around it. A smile began to show on her face, “oh Maxxie, I think I could be, I could be a mermaid,” she giggled playfully.

Mermaid. That was it, that was who she’d be. 

Izzy Lightwood wasn’t a mermaid, she was Mermaid.

* * * * *

Jace had ended up by himself, walking alone. He was alone with his thoughts - which wasn’t a good thing according to some. The people he passed were chattering away, he heard a couple of them mention the new threats, and even a few people had said ‘it’s exciting, some drama at last’. He tried to keep his grin hidden, but it was difficult.

Nobody knew he was Rush, the man who had almost suffocated Warlock. He didn’t know whether to be proud or nervous. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have been alone with his thoughts since he managed to walk straight into someone. The young man had fallen to the ground so Jace quickly helped him up - he wasn’t going to be that type of villain.

“ _You’re Rush!_ ”

“Wh-what?”

“I said, what’s your rush?”

”Oh, right. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention, my sister keep warning me not to be alone with my thoughts.”

“That’s okay,” the man let out a nervous laugh, Jace raised an eyebrow, he was dressed in a khaki coloured uniform and he looked slightly familiar.

”You’re Lydia’s delivery boy.”

“Well I’m actually more of a man but, yeah. I’m Jonas.”

Jace nodded slowly, “right, well, I’m sorry for knocking you over. Is Lydia in her shop right now?”

“Yes,” Jonas responded, “she closes at six though so she’ll only be there for fifteen more minutes. If she’s not in the shop front she’ll be in the back room”

“Oh you know her work schedule?”

“Well, I- kind of,” he sounded almost guilty, “I mean like, I” he paused, “are you her boyfriend? Because she didn’t mention anything about having one, I mean I know she used to have a fiance but… Stuff happened, but if you’re her boyfriend then-”

“I’m not her boyfriend,” Jace placed a hand on his shoulder, “don’t worry, you still have a shot,” he winked to the shorter man, “just don’t get creepy about it, got it?”

“Wh-what?”

”I need to go before she closes up,” he swiftly changed the topic, “so, see you later!”

He rushed off (well, not as fast as he could go to begin with, people would see). Once he found an alley he ducked down it so that nobody would see that it was him speeding off, then he ran as fast as he could - coming to a stop in front of Lydia’s counter, surprising the blonde who had been minding her own business.

“Suppose I had customers,” Lydia glared at Jace straight away.

“I would have seen them and gone into the back room,” Jace replied, leaning on the counter.

“So, what are you after?”

“I’m bored and I wanted to talk someone, so when I bumped into your delivery boy-”

“You bumped into Jonas?” 

“Yes I bumped into Jonas,” Jace waved his hand at Lydia, trying to get her back on track, “anyway, and then I figured that I’d come speak to you since I don’t really know you much. Of course he got terrified and thought I was your boyfriend, hilarious.”

“He was terrified by that?”

“Oh yeah,” Jace chuckled, enjoying the thought of how scared Jonas was, “he’s a sweet kid you know.”

“I know, and he’s not a kid.”

Jace teasingly made a ‘thsst’ sound, “looks like a fifteen year old.”

“He’s twenty four,” Lydia laughed as she batted Jace’s arm, “look we’re not going to talk about Jonas, so we can find something else to discuss.”

“When do you next plan on attacking Warlock?”

Lydia shrugged and walked out from behind the counter, she walked over to the door and Jace followed her, “perhaps tonight, or tomorrow. We need to be more prepared, that Encanto got me with his charm.”

“And Fledgeling got me,” Jace grumbled, “I didn’t realise I’d be racing him.”

“He’s been blessed with Vampire like abilities, the main ones being speed and strength.”

Jace frowned, “so looks like I’ll be his main enemy, huh?”

“I guess,” she hummed as she locked the door and flipped the sign, she then led Jace through to the back room and sat down on a seat, “okay so, we focus you on Fledgeling, Alec seemed pretty focused on getting Warlock.”

“He is.”

”Clary, me and Izzy and focus on Encanto and Alpha.”

“Nice,” Jace grinned, “we should get everyone at my house tonight, arrange a game plan and then go for it.”

* * * * *

Alec held his hands behind his back as Magnus came out of the shop with a smile on his face. He nervously ducked his head, the man looked even more stunning than he had remembered.

“You look,” he paused and looked up again - blushing when he saw Magnus’s bright eyes, “so good. Amazing.”

“Why thank you, not so bad yourself,” Magnus replied, he winked to Alec and held out his hand, “I’m hoping you wouldn’t be against holding my hand.”

Alec didn’t answer, he just placed his hand on Magnus and tugged him slightly closer. It was cold outside but Alec was sure he could keep his body temperature up. Magnus was already obviously cold and Alec wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what to do.

”Did you not have a warmer coat?”

“This is my warmest coat,” Magnus replied, shifting slightly.

“Can I do the cliche thing of giving you mine?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow, “then you’ll get cold.”

“I’ll be fine,” Alec laughed, it was true, he could easily warm himself up using his powers, just as long as he didn’t set himself alight. He tugged off his coat and threw it over Magnus’s shoulders, “there.” 

“Thanks, you’re very sweet,” Magnus pulled his arms through the long sleeves of the coat and grabbed Alec’s hand again, “so. Alec. Do you have a job?”

“Not at the moment, I’m living off of my parents - bad, I know.”

Magnus was grinning, “you know, I’m sure Luke would love to hire someone at the book shop, he’s got me and Tessa but… I’ll put a word in for you.”

“Really? Thanks,” Alec laughed, “I suppose I could use a job.”

“So where are we going?” 

”Hunter’s Moon,” Alec answered quickly, “ever been there before?”

Magnus nodded, “my friend has a second job there, Maia.”

“I love Maia,” Alec responded in excitement, “she’s always really kind to me.”

Magnus nodded proudly, “she’s one of my closest friends, she knows everything about me.”

“Oh, so I could get some dirt on you,” Alec leaned in close to Magnus, teasing him with a smile. They stopped walking for a moment, Alec turned to Magnus and placed his hands on the man’s waist, “is i weird that we only met a few hours ago but I already want to do so much with you.”

Magnus shrugged, “I think it’s an instant connection, something beautiful and romantic like that.”

Alec leaned down and captured Magnus’s lips in his own, in that moment all the thoughts in Magnus’s head turned to Alec. He brought his hands up to Alec’s neck and made sure Alec couldn’t escape from the kiss he had initiated. Magnus did pull back after a moment, however, and Alec chased after his lips.

“We shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves now,” Magnus moved his hand back down to Alec’s chest, “let’s just get to the drinks, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

* * * * *

Simon frowned as he got back to his apartment, “so my best friend doesn’t like Warlock, like at all.”

“She doesn’t?” Raphael began to smile, “what a shame.”

“I would have thought she’d like him,” he shrugged and sat down next to Raphael, “she’s always been a good person. Oh well,” he placed an arm around Raphael’s shoulders, “get up to much today?”

“Nope,” Raphael answered honestly, “I was going to go to the lab but I really couldn’t be bothered.”

”Fair enough,” Simon nodded, he leaned over to place a kiss on Raphael’s cheek, “you’re so lazy lately, have you noticed that?”

”Nope,” Raphael replied as he leaned against Simon, “not at all.”

Simon let out a chuckle, “lazy but cute.”

“Thanks Hermano,” Raphael grinned.

“Oh you know that I’m far more than a Hermano to you,” Simon whispered in an attempt of seduction, he swung his leg up and moved to straddle Raphael’s lap, “Novio, right?”

Raphael hummed in agreement and placed his hands on Simon’s thighs, “you act like you’re under my Encanto charm.”

“I fell for your natural Encanto charm,” Simon replied quietly, he pulled off his glasses and gave Raphael a sweet smile, “remember when we met?”

“Of course,” Raphael laughed, “I thought you were an average teenager getting in the middle of a battle.”

”You pushed me out of the way, asked if I was stupid.”

“And you showed me I was wrong,” Raphael shrugged.

”I saved your life,” Simon scoffed, “face it, I’m the best boy you’ve ever met.”

Raphael rolled his eyes, he moved one hand up to Simon’s neck and pulled him down, living up to his vampire-like abilities he placed a kiss on Simon’s neck and then quickly began to use his teeth. Simon let out a small whimper, Raphael knew Simon’s weakness, and he was good at it.

The boys jumped apart when a loud rumble of thunder was suddenly present.

“Tempest.”

* * * * *

“Where’s Alec?” Clary asked as she looked at Lydia and Jace, “and Izzy?”

”I called Alec,” Jace frowned, “he refused to come because he’s on a date,” he crossed his arms, “and he also managed to get Izzy grounded so she couldn’t join us.”

“Grounded,” Lydia looked at him with wide eyes, “well, great. A villain who can be grounded.”

“Maybe we should hold off for tonight,” Jace whispered, “just give them a night to relax as well. We can use it to plan.”

Lydia shook her head, “I’ve already started a storm.”

“So stop it,” Clary shrugged.

Lydia looked to the redhead and sighed, “to be honest, I could… But once I start a storm - I don’t want to stop it,” she turned around and began to walk away - pausing before she walked through the door, “feel free to join me, unless you’re too afraid.”

“If being smart makes me afraid,” Clary responded in a confident tone, “so be it.”

Lydia shrugged and left the building.

Jace glanced down to Clary with a worried expression, “we can’t let her do it alone.”

“Yes we can,” Clary leaned onto the table, “she’s pretentious.”

“Clary.”

Clary looked around, “Izzy’s upstairs, right?”

“Yeah.”

Clary nodded and rushed up the stairs, she did her best to stay quiet. She knew that their parents weren’t home - they had gone out to the park with Max. She got to the top of the stairs and paused. She could hear crying coming from Izzy’s room. She slowly approached the room and placed her hand on the door handle. The crying was heartbreaking, Izzy was a beautiful bright young girl, she sounded broken. 

She opened the door and caught Izzy’s attention immediately. She looked at the doorway and then turned away, “h-hi.”

“Hey,” Clary approached the bed that Izzy was sat on, “we cancelled the plan, well Lydia didn’t…”

“Okay,” Izzy nodded, “I just… I can’t believe Alec would… What the hell is wrong with him?”

Clary sat next to Izzy and placed a hand on her back, she began to move it in small circles, hoping to comfort the crying girl, “he’s protective.”

“No he’s not, he’s a jerk,” she hissed, “he doesn’t want me to do anything.”

Clary didn’t hesitate to pull Izzy into a hug, “no matter what Izzy, you’re always valued. Alec might seem cruel but I’m sure it’s his messed up way of being protective.”

“It’s a very messed up way.”

“Don’t let him stop you from being who you want to be Izzy,” she whispered.

“I want to help,” Izzy replied quietly, “I want to be a hero.”

* * * * * 

Magnus frowned as he looked out the window, the winds had picked up to a high speed and it was dark and gloomy. He knew the cause.

“I uh,” he had to come up with some excuse, “shit, I left my washing to dry outside,” he lied, “and whilst I love this date, I need to go sort that out.”

“Oh,” Alec replied, obviously upset about the cancellation of the date.

”Listen, if you wait here, I’ll come right back to you. I promise.”

“You do?”

“I do.”

He leaned forward and kissed Alec’s cheek before standing up and walking away, he hadn’t wanted to leave Alec at all but The Tempest was calling for another battle with him. When Magnus got outside he made sure nobody was around before whistling. In the next second Simon was by his side.

“Where to?” 

“The lab, I need to get my jacket.”

“Then let’s go,” Simon turned around and Magnus jumped onto his back just like routine. They were at the lab in the next second. Magnus jumped off of Simon’s back and grabbed his hooded jacket. He pulled the jacket on and smiled as Simon managed to change into his ‘Fledgeling State’. 

“You ready?”

“As always,” Magnus replied, “and this time - I’m not getting suffocated by some boy.”

“Of course not,” Simon nodded.

“Where are Alpha and Encanto?”

”The shop,” Simon replied, he turned around again once Magnus had pulled his hood up and gestured for Magnus to jump on his back once again.

He did so.

It was handy having Simon around, it made transport far easier. They were at the book shop already, Raphael and Luke were both ready. Luke in his wolf form and Raphael in his vampire form. 

“Let’s get going.”

* * * * *

Alec glanced up as the local news channel flashed over to a live feed of The Tempest at a local park, Alec groaned. After a moment of watching he froze, in the background he could see his parents and Max. 

“Oh God no,” he stood up, he ran over to Maia who was still behind the bar, “if Magnus comes back tell him I’ve gone to check on my parents and little brother, I’ll be back as soon as I can be,” he flashed a smile and then ran out of the bar. He knew that the park was nearby, but the problem was - he didn’t have his jacket or mask. He pulled out his phone as he ran and called Jace.

“Yo.”

“Jace! Bring my jacket and mask to the park.”

“Thought you weren’t getting involved.”

”Yeah well my date ditched me to go collect his washing and mom, dad and Max are at the park. Aren’t you?”

”We weren’t going to attack, but Lydia went all lone wolf on us and decided she could take them herself.”

“Great, just get me my jacket and mask,” Alec hissed.

“There you are!” He looked up to see Jace in front of him with his Rush jacket and mask on, he ran around Alec and in a split second - Alec was Flamethrower. He held out his arms, “you want a ride?”

“Please,” Alec nodded, Jace scooped his brother up bridal style and carried him to the park. He set him down and then stood by his side, they were just in time - Alpha, Encanto, Fledgeling and Warlock arrived at the same time, he pointed over to his family, “get them to safety.”

“Don’t you ever learn?” Warlock stepped forwards to Tempest, “we’ll be one step ahead of you.”

“Of course,” she returned and with a wave of her hand a lighting bolt struck the ground in front of Warlock, “if only you were on step ahead then.”

“Watch it,” Fledlgeling chuckled from the side, a bright grin spreading across his face. Tempest threw a hand out and a lightning bolt was mere inches away from Fledgeling, “ooh, almost!”

Jace was back at Alec’s side, about to say something when he was taken out by the wolf, Alec rolled his eyes and moved forward, prepared to help Tempest. He flicked his hands, they both sparked into flames.

“Woah, woah,” a voice caught him off guard, he looked to the side, “cool it, Hermano,” Encanto sneered with a laugh and then waved his hand in front of Alec’s face and…

Alec had no idea what happened next.

* * * * *

Jonas watched in awe as Tempest tried time and time again to strike Warlock with lightning bolts - but she didn’t hit him, and it wasn’t clear why. He saw Flamethrower frozen to the spot.Rush was fighting Alpha and Fledgeling. Jonas could see Tempest was preparing for a larger scale of an attack, like she was charging it.

He didn’t want her to get hurt. He wanted to do anything he could to protect her.

The truth was, he knew the face behind the mask. He knew it was her. It sounded ridiculous and cliche but Jonas would recognise her anywhere. She was important to him. 

As she was about to strike, Warlock threw his arms out towards her and with what seemed like a bright blue forcefield - he pushed her back through the air. Jonas’s vision seemed to move in slow motion as he watch Tempest move through the air. As she landed, he ran over to her. She had landed on the pavement and Jonas had seen her head collide with the ground beneath her. She wasn’t moving at all as he ran over to her. 

He slid onto his knees when he was by her side - and sure it hurt but he didn’t care. He pulled Tempest onto his lap and cradled her.

”I’ve got you,” he whispered gently, “don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

“You need to hand her over,” he looked up to see Warlock looking down at him, “she’s dangerous.”

“No she’s not.”

“She’s trying to hurt people,” Warlock informed, Jonas knew that Warlock believed his own words, which only made him laugh.

“She’s trying to hurt you,” he challenged the Warlock, “nobody else. She only wants revenge for her loss.”

“Her loss?” Warlock was taken aback by Jonas’s comment.

“The Subway accident,” Jonas narrowed his eyes at Warlock, “everyone claims that it was a miracle, you saved everyone. But you didn’t! You let John Monteverde die!”

“John,” Warlock repeated the name and then gasped, “I know… I remember.”

“What? You remember?”

“He…” Warlock hesitated, taking a breath before explaining himself, “John. He helped me to save people. I remember him helping. He saved a young girl, Zoe. She was the last one who got to safety - we had managed to get everybody off in time. When I asked Zoe where John was, she said one of the door closed behind her and it wouldn’t open. He yelled for her to go.”

Jonas imagined the scenario, he was shocked. John had been a hero that day. He had somewhat sacrificed himself for the sake of others. He looked down to the girl he was still holding in her arms. He glanced back up to Warlock as the hero spoke up again.

“I never meant for anyone to die, I’ve done wrong a-and I know I have,” Jonas was shocked to hear the almighty Warlock stutter over his words, “I… Tell Tempest that I apologise for her loss, that he died a hero.”

Jonas nodded slowly and watched as the Warlock moved away. He pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. He had just saved her from imprisonment. He had saved her.

When Warlock had ordered for his team to leave them be, Jonas saw Rush get up to his feet and glance around in panic. He had noticed Flamethrower first, grinning like a fool and weak at the knees. Then he glanced over and locked eyes with Jonas. He made his way over to Jonas - not using his speed, just walking. He crouched down in front of him and gave him an odd look.

”She needs to go somewhere safe,” he spoke in a low tone which Jonas had deemed to be oddly familiar, “take her back to yours, I trust you to do that.”

“Uh, right,” Jonas nodded, “but… I can’t just carry someone who’s seen as a supervillain through the streets to my place… Especially not when she’s unconscious because that looks all sorts of dodgy.”

“Right,” Rush pulled a face and then (using his strength) picked up both Jonas and Tempest, “where to?”

Jonas gave him an address and, when ordered, held his breath. Then he was standing outside his apartment with Tempest in his arms.

“Don’t do anything weird or creepy,” Rush pulled a face again, “because if I find out you do anything to her, I’ll will handcuff you to a street lamp, grab your other arm and keep on running, you got that?”

“Y-yes, I’d never overstep with her, trust me.”

“I do,” Rush nodded and glanced around, “I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you around!”

And then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME:   
> Izzy makes a decision that could change her path.  
> (There is also Disney Movies, William Shakespeare Plays, Strange Apartments and Flower Shops)


	5. Dynamic Duos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia wakes up after the fight with Warlock, shocked by her surroundings. Alec returns to his date whilst Izzy makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a gift from me to you as I have finally caught up with my work for college (you know, one day before it's due.) And I've also managed to write much more of the fic today!!

Alec snapped out of his state and he was in the family living room, with Jace stood in front of him. Jace had obviously changed him from the Flamethrower outfit so that their parents would be none the wiser. He looked around in silence and then turned to the door when he heard it unlock.

“Rush saved us!” Max cried as he ran through the house, “I told you he wasn’t a bad guy!”

“Honey, calm down,” Maryse begged her youngest as she followed him.

“But he saved us mommy! He’s a hero! I want to be like Rush,” Alec saw Jace grinning as Max ran past the doorway, back and forth. Trying to be as fast as Rush.

“I thought you wanted to be like Warlock,” Robert chuckled. He walked into the living room and smiled to the two boys, “hey, don’t suppose you guys know about what happened at the park today?”

”N-no,” Alec lied, he flashed a smile, “what happened?”

“That Tempest girl was starting a storm and then Warlock showed up,” Robert explained, “we were there and then that Rush got us out of the way. Max has a new favourite hero.”

“Really?” Jace was shocked, he tried to hide a smile.

“Rush isn’t a hero,” Alec mumbled, he turned away from his father, “aren’t him and that little squad bad guys.”

“Not to the public,” Robert shrugged, “he made sure we were all safe.”

When Robert was gone, Alec turned to Jace, “they think you’re a hero.”

“Perhaps I am,” Jace was proud.

“Right, well where’s Lydia if you’re such a hero?”

Jace pressed his lips together, “with Jonas, her delivery boy.”

“What? Why? Why would you-?”

”He knew it was her, I could see it in his eyes. It was the same look he gave me earlier when he thought I was her boyfriend. It was this look of loss and sorrow.”

Alec scoffed and rolled his eyes, “and if he didn’t know? He might just have a thing for The Tempest, you’ve jeopardised Lydia’s identity you stupid-”

“Alec! Alec!” Max ran into the room, cutting Alec off. The eldest brother just glared at Jace before turning to Max.

“Hey little buddy.”

“I saw Superheroes today!”

”I know,” Alec smiled, “dad said.”

“Rush is my favourite, he’s really fast and kind and he smiled at me!” 

Alec smiled and crouched down to speak to Max, “oh you have a favourite?”

“Yeah, and a least favourite.”

“Least favourite? Who’s that?”

“Flamethrower. He’s a meanie.”

Alec went silent, he looked into his young brother’s eyes and forced a fake smile. He stood up and turned to Jace, “that’s awesome,” he replied eventually, “shit, I’ve got to get back to Magnus,” he looked down to Max - apologising for the curse word.

“You want a hand?”

”No,” Alec shook his head, “I can walk.”

He did so, walking by himself back to the Hunter’s Moon. He cursed himself, Magnus still had his coat. Not that it mattered, he was going to meet Magnus again and he could keep himself warm anyway. He crossed his arms as he walked as a way to preserve his natural heat. It was bound to happen, but… Max loved Rush. He hated Flamethrower.

He heard people running about, “Rush saved people from the line of fire! He’s not a villain after all!”

He rolled his eyes. Jace was a villain, they were trying to take down Warlock - were people so stupid? 

He was at the Hunter’s Moon within five minutes, it wasn’t too far from where he lived anyway. He walked inside the bar and smiled over to Maia who was leaning forward on the bar, obviously bored. 

“Is Magnus back yet?” Alec asked as he glanced around the bar.

“Not yet, want me to call him?”

“No it’s fine, I’ll wait.”

* * * * *

Lydia shifted, she mumbled something that was completely incoherent - even to herself, she opened her eyes. To begin with her vision was blurry but after a moment… She had no idea where she was. She sat up suddenly, ignoring the pain that rushed to her head as she did so. She knew that she was breathing far quicker than usual and her heart beat was slowly going faster and faster. Her mask was still on (thank God) as was her Tempest outfit. She had been placed on a bed, underneath some blankets. 

What the fuck was-

The door opened and Lydia prepared herself to attack whoever was walking in. 

There, in dark blue jeans, a plaid button up shirt and glasses, was Jonas Denvers. Her loyal delivery boy. Except he didn’t know it was Lydia - there was no way he could know, could he?

“Mornin’ sunshine,” he joked, “well, evening technically. Are you alright?”

“Uh… I…”

“I didn’t take anything off of you by the way, because I respect your privacy.”

Lydia brought her hand up to her mask, she didn’t take it off however, she just smiled and nodded.

Jonas pulled a face, “you’re not really talkative today, huh?”

“W-well…”

“Lydia I know it’s you.”

Lydia’s heart stopped, Jonas was grinning at her, his eyes lit up in pure innocence. She couldn’t speak, she just wondered how on earth he would have known.

“Didn’t you open the parcel I got for you?”

“No?” She replied finally and in all honestly, she pressed her lips together about to apologise but was surprised to hear Jonas laugh.

“William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. That’s what you would have found,” he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over his shoulder to her, “it was a playful ‘I know who you are’ thing.”

“That’s… Really cute,” Lydia laughed, she reached up and took off her mask, “thanks.”

Jonas’s smile turned to one of pride, “you think?”

“Yes,” Lydia nodded, “so… How did you know?”

“I just… Knew. When I looked at The Tempest, I had the same feeling as when I looked at you. From there, I noticed things. I knew I had seen hints and everything matched up so perfectly. I’d be stupid if I didn’t realise.”

“So, people will know it’s me?”

”Not necessarily,” he shrugged, “but there were things about you - tiny details - that I liked. The Tempest had the same things. This smile of pride of you get, the way your eyes light up. You do this little thing with your hands when you’re getting impatient,” he showed her what he meant by moving his own hand, Lydia let out a small giggle, “your laugh too, I heard Tempest laugh once and I just knew it was you.”

“Can I… Stay here tonight?”

“Of course!”

Lydia looked down at herself and then up to Jonas, “uh… do you think I could borrow a shirt to change into? And maybe some pants?”

Jonas rushed over to his drawers and pulled out a plain blue t-shirt for Lydia. He passed her the shirt and then began searching for some pants for her to wear, “would it be weird to give you a pair of my boxers?”

“That’ll be fine,” Lydia replied. She unzipped her purple leather jacket and tugged off the tank top that she wore underneath. As she placed her tank top to the side Jonas had turned around from his drawers about to pass her a pair of his boxers, however he yelped when he realised she was in her bra and turned away again.

“I’m so sorry!” he apologised. Lydia let out a laugh.

“It’s okay Jonas,” she admitted, not entirely bothered by him seeing much, she pulled his shirt on and then stood up. She slipped out of the tight pants she was wearing and reached out for Jonas’s boxers (he was still turned away form her in embarrassment). Once she was wearing Jonas’s shirt and boxers she tapped him on the shoulder, “I’m decent now.”

Jonas turned around with a smile, it dropped when a painful look shot through Lydia’s face, “you’re in pain, aren’t you?”

“My back,” Lydia nodded.

“Lie down,” Jonas suggested kindly, “I mean you did kind of get thrown across the park… Do you want something to eat? Since you need to eat dinner.”

Lydia did as Jonas suggested and slipped underneath the covers again, she glanced over to him, “Im not that hungry to be honest.”

“How about just a sandwich?”

Lydia thought for a moment, “sure.”

“I’ll make you the best sandwich you’ve ever tasted!” 

* * * * *

After a (finally) successful date, Alec had asked Magnus if he could stay at his place for the night. Although initially hesitant, Magnus eventually said yes. Alec had explained that he didn’t want to go home because he couldn’t stand his sister and brother at the moment. He had offered to sleep on a sofa or even the floor but Magnus shrugged it off, supposing that they could use the time together to learn more.

When they were in the apartment Magnus took Alec’s coat off, he placed the coat on the coatrack and smiled quickly to Alec, he then took his own coat off and placed it over Alec’s.

“Make yourself at home,” he glanced over his shoulder to Alec, “would you like something to eat?”

“I’m good,” Alec replied as he followed Magnus over to the sofa. They both sat down, Alec tucked his legs up underneath him after slipping his shoes off, “so uh… do you… uh-”

“Let’s not play twenty questions,” Magnus let out a chuckle, “just, tell me how your day was.”

“It was eventful,” Alec began to smile, “I met this gorgeous man at a bookstore, and he asked me out on a date,” he winked to Magnus as they both quietly laughed, “and then he ditched the date to get his laundry inside before the storm, which ended quite suddenly. Then we just had a few drinks, and… Here I am.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Magnus whispered in response, “I had a similar day, surprisingly.”

“Oh, I wonder why,” Alec joked as he leaned toward Magnus, “you’re really… Good looking.”

“Thanks. As are you.”

They began making jokes about their awkward conversation and soon enough relaxed easily, even enough to lean into each other as they spoke. Alec had his arm placed around Magnus’s waist as he spoke and Magnus felt confident enough to rest his head on Alec’s shoulder.

It was odd, it felt as though they had been together for a while, yet they had only met that day.Magnus felt warm with Alec, welcome with him. 

“We could watch a movie,” Magnus suggested after a while.

“Sure,” Alec shrugged, “you can decide, I really don’t mind what we watch.”

“Beauty and The Beast it is,” Magnus laughed as he jumped up from the sofa. He quickly set up the film and moved back to Alec in time to use the remote to start the movie. He sat down next to Alec and gave him a flash of a smile.

It wasn’t too long into the film that Alec and Magnus decided to cuddle together, it was comfortable, and warm. Soon enough Magnus was so comfortable and warm that he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

Alec followed suit and let his head fall back onto the back of the sofa.

* * * * *

Luke finally took the time to rush around to the flower shop (which had finally been fixed up after The Tempest incident). He knew Jocelyn would have closed up shop, but she’d still be there, perhaps watering the plants or sorting out stock. He knocked on the door and waited. 

It didn’t take too long for Jocelyn to come bounding over to the front door, she paused when she looked through the glass in the door and saw Luke. After a moment of hesitation, she unlocked the door. She looked far less than impressed to see him. 

“What do you want?”

“A chance to apologise for that awful date I took you on… And also I’ve got a book for you,” he held up the book, “the order came in the other day but I never got a chance to bring it over.”

Jocelyn nodded and grabbed the book, “well, thanks for this,” she walked back inside her shop and didn’t lock the door - prompting Luke to follow her.

“I know I messed up,” he paused when Jocelyn turned and raised an eyebrow, “badly. But hear me out, I want to take you on another date, this time I won’t mess up. I’ll make it perfect.”

“You promised a perfect date last time,” Jocelyn let out a sour scoff of laughter, “and yet forgot your wallet, almost set the restaurant on fire and then ditched me without a word.

“There was good reason.”

“Good reason to leave me at a place that was burning? Good thing that Warlock guy was around, not that he’s the best person ever.”

“No?”

”He ruined my shop, Luke,” Jocelyn hissed, “I have spent ages trying to fix it up again, I’ve only just managed to get it done up again,” she frowned, “Clary was red with rage about it all, this shop is her wonderland.”

“I’m sure Warlock would find a way to make up for it,” Luke pressed his lips together, “I’m sure.”

Jocelyn shook her head, “he hasn’t done anything so far.”

Luke knew the truth, Magnus had wanted to help with all the damage he had caused but he couldn’t find a way to do so - not without having The Tempest get in the way again. It was difficult. 

Jocelyn had moved to the counter to stack something, Luke just stood at the other end of the shop, waiting for some sign of forgiveness. The woman kept up her shield of courage as she turned to Luke, “I suppose… I can forgive you this time.”

A smile sprung up on Luke’s face, “really? This is fantastic, I’ll take you on a date, we’ll have a great time - I promise.”

Jocelyn nodded, a flicker of a smile showing itself, “alright then, how about tomorrow night at 8?”

“That’s perfect, I’ll see you then!”

* * * * *

Clary had left by the time Izzy woke up again, it was half way through the night and the house was silent. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She slipped on some flat shoes and made a decision. She wanted to go for a walk - she wanted to find someone. She knew Encanto and Fledgeling had vampire -like abilities, surely they’d be up during the night. She was still clothes from early in the day so she simply grabbed a coat and pulled it on - ensuring she’d be warm. She quietly made her way down the stairs and out of the front door, easy enough. 

Once she was outside she was hit with a cold chill, it was almost winter. She kept her arms crossed across her chest and rushed down the street. When she was in an area away from housing she spoke out.

“Encanto, Fledgeling, I know you must be able to hear me. Please, come to my voice, I need… I need to help you. I… I need your help.”

She waited.

Nothing. 

She began to walk again, perhaps they were in another area. Suddenly she was pushed to the side by some man - with the force she let out a loud scream. She glanced up from the floor as the man began approaching her again, she knew what his motives were.

“I don’t think so,” she hissed, kicking out her leg - the man caught it but Izzy managed to escape with ease. She got back up onto her feet as the man lunged for her again, this time she jumped to the side and kicked the back of one of his legs. He stumbled to the ground and right down at the feet of Fledgeling. Izzy began to smile.

The vampire-like boy quickly tied the man’s hands together and lifted him up, “I’ll be taking you to prison,” he aimed to the man, before he could leave Izzy shouted out a ‘wait’.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Then I’ll be right back,” Fledgeling gave a quick nod. He sped off. Izzy stood by herself for a moment, beginning to hum and in the next second Fledgeling was back, “how can I help you?”

“I want to be a hero,” Izzy admitted, “I… I have powers, and I joined my brothers in villainy against Warlock and… You guys, but I don’t want that now. I want to be good. I want to be appreciated.”

Fledgeling cocked his head to the side, “you’re a villain? No wonder you took that guy down. What are you powers? Or your identity?”

“Mermaid, I’m Mermaid,” Izzy stepped forward, whispering. When Fledgeling gave her a look that said ‘I don’t believe you’, Izzy flicked up her hand and presented a ball of water, “see?”

“Okay,” Fledgeling nodded, “but maybe don’t flaunt your powers in your other identity?” He suggested with a smile, “look, it’s the middle of the night… I’ll meet you here tomorrow,” he offered, “at midday, in my own identity. I’ll approach you and I’ll say… What’s the difference between a Mermaid and a Siren.”

“Alright,” Izzy nodded, “th-thanks… Can I ask-?”

“You want me to take you home?”

“Yes please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Hotheaded   
> Alec's anger becomes an issue.  
> (There is also a big discovery for Jonas, a visit to the labs, and Izzy finds out a LOT of information)


	6. Hotheaded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lightwood siblings all have a perfect day, until they don't.

Jonas woke up, embraced by Lydia’s arms. They had fallen asleep together, cuddling. Jonas didn’t exactly know what to make of it, but he was happy to know that Lydia was happy to cuddle him. They could have been best friends, he didn’t mind. He had been cold in the night so it was nice for Lydia to keep him warm. He enjoyed having her nearby, and she had said the same to him.

When he moved to sit up he woke Lydia up, and looked down at her with guilt, “sorry for waking you,” he whispered.

“It’s okay,” Lydia replied quietly, “I… I should probably get home,” she sat up next to Jonas, “I need to check on my dog.”

“You have a dog?” Jonas cocked his head to the side.

“Yeah,” Lydia let out a giggle, “a little Pomeranian. He’s called Batman.”

“You have a Pomeranian named Batman!” Jonas squealed, “that’s adorable, I have to come meet him sometime.”

“Definitely!” Lydia agreed, then she got out of the bed, “thank you so much Jonas, I’m so glad to have someone like you around," she placed a kiss on Jonas's forehead in a friendly manner, "never change. I’ll see you soon, promise?”

“Of course,” Jonas grinned, “do you want my number?”

After an exchange of numbers and a quick change of clothes, Lydia had left. Jonas smiled to himself, he eventually got out of the bed and made his way down to the kitchen to make his breakfast. The plus side of living alone, he could walk around in his underwear, the down side, he had to cook his own breakfast. He had decided just to make himself a bacon sandwich with a cup of coffee, he wasn’t exactly fond of coffee but it woke him up. Plus, since it was going into winter, holding the mug made his hands warmer. 

Somehow, the first sip he took of his coffee, mere minutes after making it, was freezing cold and he dropped his mug in shock. 

It made zero sense. He looked at the mess he had created. Quickly, he picked up the pieces of the broken mug and threw them into the bin, then grabbed a cloth and began to wipe the cold coffee. He glanced over his shoulder, he didn't know why, accidentally setting his hand in the puddle of coffee as he did, when he looked back the coffee had frozen over. Surely it wasn’t that cold. He pulled back his hand and examined his palms - wondering what was going on. 

He stood up, realising exactly what was happening.

“I’m turning into Elsa,” he hissed, and turned to search for a pair of winter gloves.

* * * * *

Izzy rushed to the street where she had met Fledgeling the previous night, but watching the people go by she had this overwhelming sense of doubt - perhaps the entire thing had truly just been a dream. She leaned back against a lampost and just waited. 

After about ten minutes she wanted to give up, when a boy in a nerdy t-shirt and glasses stopped by her side.

”What’s the difference between a Mermaid and a Siren?” He grinned, waiting for a response.

“I don't know," Izzy turned to him with a grin, "what's the difference?”

“Well, a mermaid is a human fish hybrid, and a siren goes ‘woo woo woo’,” he impersonated a police siren and let out a laugh, “so anyway, follow me,” he waved a hand, “I’m going to show you to the labs, and you’re going to prove that you can be trusted.”

“Fantastic,” Izzy smiled, following him, “my name is Izzy, by the way.”

“Simon,” the boy replied, “Simon Lewis.”

Izzy stopped and grabbed Simon’s arm, “Simon Lewis?”

“Uh, yeah? Why?”

Izzy began to smile, “I think I have a crush on your best friend! Clary?”

“You know Clary? No way,” Simon laughed, “well look, whatever you do, don’t tell her who I am - she’d hate it if I kept a secret from her. Plus that’s ruining a superhero’s identity which is 100% against the code of superheroes.”

“I would never give away your identity, considering you know mine.”

“Fair point, fair trade,” Simon replied as he placed his hands into his pockets, he led Izzy into an alleyway and paused.

”Woah, is this some kind of prank? Or do you have a lab hidden in the walls or something? Are you trying to corner me? Attack me - because that’s definitely against the superhero code.”

“I’m picking you up,” Simon rolled his eyes and quickly scooped Izzy into his arms, “it’s faster,” he raised his eyebrows, “so hold your breath!”

Izzy did so, she felt the wind rushing against her and when she opened her eyes again a few moments later. She was inside a lab where several others were gathered.

”Woah,” she commented as Simon placed her onto her feet, “this place is beautiful, can I get a job here? Like for real, I freaking love science stuff, I’m the smartest member of my family. The others wanted to make me the brains of the operation when they were starting out but then I got my powers and proved them so wrong!”

“Stop, stop, stop!” A girl had jumped up from the seat she was in, “who are you?”

“Oh, right. I’m Isabelle Sophia Lightwood, better known as Mermaid,” she introduced herself and paused as the group all reacted in shock.

One young man who had been leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk jumped onto his feet, another man stepped forward and hissed (actually hissed), she saw one man’s eyes turn green, the girl just sat back down, letting her jaw drop.

“You’re Mermaid,” the man who had been sitting with his feet on the desk asked, moving closer to Izzy.

”I know what it looks like,” she held out her hands, “but I want to be a good guy. If I didn’t want to be a good guy, would I have given away my identity like that?”

The man pulled a face, “she’s got a point. Well fine, let’s make this quick, I have a sleeping Alec I need to get back to,” he grinned over to the girl sat behind the desk who raised her eyebrows at him.

”Alec?” Izzy gasped suddenly.

“Yes,” he nodded. “anyway, I’m Magnus Bane,” he approached Izzy cautiously, “Warlock.”

”W-warlock… and Alec…”

“Sorry, do you know this Alec?” the hissing man asked loudly.

“My brother’s called Alec,” she admitted.

“Okay, small world,” Simon whistled, “you know my best friend and Magnus’s future boyfriend. I mean do you know many people named Alec instead of Alex? Exactly.”

“What’s he look like?” Izzy narrowed her eyes at Magnus.

“Tall, dark hair, dreamy.”

“Oh yeah that’s definitely him,” Izzy stepped back, crossing her arms and pulling a face, “huh, I can’t believe that. My brother, fla- fluffy haired,” she managed to stop her slip of the tongue, “tall boy Alec… With Warlock. Wow.”

“Don’t tell him.”

“Trust me, I won’t,” she placed her hand on a heart.

”Fantastic,” he held his arms out to Simon, “Fledgeling, take me home.”

“Alright big boy,” Simon playfully responded, and then he and Magnus were gone. Of course, Simon showed up again in the next moment. “Okay, next,” he clapped his hands together, “Izzy, this is my lovely Raphael,” he pointed over to the man who had hissed.

“Encanto,” Izzy guessed, when Raphael had nodded, a grin showed up on Izzy’s face.

“Or as you named me, Medusa seducer, right?”

”Right,” Izzy let out a chuckle, “it was a cute name, right?”

“Charming,” Raphael sneered, but then he seemed to have somewhat of a smile.

“I’m Luke Garroway,” the man with the green eyes stepped forward holkding out his hand.

Izzy shook it proudly, “so you must be Alpha?”

”I am.”

“And I’m the nerdy tech assistant,” the girl called out from behind Luke, raising her hands so she could be seen, “Maia Roberts.”

“Cool,” Izzy looked around, “so this is your little superhero lab. I love it!”

“So if you’re Mermaid,” Luke started, curiously, “why do you want to join us?”

“Flamethrower… He’s not exactly kind to me, he thinks my powers are useless. I thought that I would stay by his side... but I’m having my doubts now. I want to prove myself, I want to be a hero.”

“Welcome aboard,” Luke flashed a smile, “but if you step out of line…”

“I’m out, I’ve got it!” Izzy nodded.

“By the way,” Maia stood up and rushed over to Izzy, “your outfit as Mermaid is freaking gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” Izzy laughed, “I mean I know it kind of goes into the cliche female superheroes showing skin thing but… I’m comfortable in it.”

“You have Hydrokinesis,” Simon began, “that’s actually pretty cool, it makes you Flamethrower’s weakness, right?”

“Pretty much,” she nodded, the thought of being her own brother’s weakness made her proud but also guilty. 

“She saved Magnus,” Luke smile, “when Flamethrower first attacked, remember?”

“I was angry at him, he wouldn’t let me fight.”

“Well,” Maia spoke up again, “I think you can definitely fight with us.”

* * * * *

Alec opened his eyes, he rolled over and place his hand on Magnus’s chest. Magnus was awake, staring up at the ceiling.

“Morning,” Alec whispered, shuffling closer to Magnus, “you look good.”

“Thank you,” Magnus chuckled, “as do you, I love your bed hair.”

Alec felt himself blushing, he covered it by resting his head on Magnus’s chest, “did you go somewhere?”

“Hm?”

”It felt like you weren’t here,” he shuffled and as he did, he placed a quick kiss on Magnus’s chest, “but you are.”

“I went to the bathroom briefly,” Magnus lied.

Alec nodded and hummed, “can you cuddle me?”

Magnus didn’t answer, he just pulled Alec as close as he could and wrapped his arms around him. He managed to place a soft kiss on Alec’s head and he heard the boy chuckle in response. 

“I feel like I’ve known you forever,” Alec admitted, “like we’ve been together for ages,” his words were slightly mumbled I his sleepy state, but they still made Magnus grin, “like we’ve had months of kissing and cuddling, and I just want to be with you.”

Magnus then let out a small laugh, “yet we haven’t even known each other for an entire day,” he raised an eyebrow, “hey, why don’t we go get some breakfast? Talk a little bit more.”

”I’d love that,” Alec sat up slowly. 

Alec followed Magnus into the kitchen and leaned against the counter as Magnus searched the cupboards and fridge. He turned back to Alec after a moment and sighed, “fancy going out for breakfast instead?”

“Sure.”

Once they were dressed and presentable, Magnus took Alec to his favourite bakery. They had walked hand in hand again, laughing about various things that had cropped up in their conversation. Once they were at the bakery, Magnus greeted the boy behind the counter with a friendly wave. Alec cocked his head and Magnus had noticed.

“My friend, Simon Lewis,” Magnus smiled and approached the counter, “you got here quickly.”

“No shit,” Simon replied quietly, “what can I get you today?”

“Oh you know what I want,” Magnus rolled his eyes, “Alec, what about you?”

Simon raised an eyebrow as he turned to Alec, the boy was looking at the display of cakes, humming in thought, “I guess, a slice of carrot cake,” he smiled happily as he had made a decision. Magnus nodded to Simon and the boy behind the counter quickly gathered their orders, a slice of carrot cake for Alec, and for Magnus - a blueberry muffin, a croissant and a hot chocolate.

“Did you want a drink Alec?”

”No, I’ll just steal some of yours,” he replied, he then heard Simon chuckle. 

“This boy has got it right, he’s a keeper Magnus.”

“I know,” Magnus nodded, glancing over to Alec, “we’re going to get along very well.”

They sat down at the table and continued to converse about different topics. They found several things they had in common, it was wonderful. Alec loved looking into Magnus’s eyes, they were as beautiful as his kisses. 

Alec was falling fast for Magnus, he knew that. He wondered if there’d ever come a day he’d confess to Magnus about being Flamethrower.

* * * * *

Jace sat on the sofa betwee Clary and Izzy, his head in his hands whilst Izzy was grinning proudly and Clary was silently trying to figure things out.

“You realise that Alec is going to freak out, Iz. You’ve made yourself his enemy.”

“He made himself my enemy,” Izzy shrugged, “he doesn’t think I can handle the responsibilities. I can be more responsible, I can be a hero.”

“You’re absolutely sure you want to do this? Surely you can back out?”

“I can, but it would only give them more of a reason to be my enemy,” Izzy pulled a face, “look, we’ll see how Alec reacts to me wanting to be on the frontline with you guys, it’ll prove what I mean.”

As if on cue the door opened and closed again and Alec walked in with a bright smile covering his face, “oh my God,” he walked into the living room, knowing Jace, Izzy and Clary were there, “guys I met the best guy ever yesterday, Magnus Bane, he’s fucking gorgeous. He’s so kind, happy, and… Soft. I think I’m falling in love with him, that’s great right?” He fell dramatically onto the armchair and looked at the trio expectedly, “well?”

“Yeah…” Izzy hesitated, she was the only one who knew that Magnus was Warlock, “it’s great.”

“Don’t sound so jealous,” Alec scoffed, “maybe we should start calling you envy, it’s your best ability,” he laughed, missing Izzy roll her eyes. 

“Speaking of abilities,” Jace leaned forward, “Izzy was wondering, she reckons she could take down Warlock. What do you think?”

Alec stared at Izzy for a moment before laughing, “you’re kidding right. That’d be like Elsa from Frozen building an ice wall trying to stop me - pointless.”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open, Clary quickly stood up, “Izzy is powerful Alec.”

Alec just glared at Clary and then looked to Izzy, “Face it, your powers are pointless.”

“There it is,” Izzy gave Jace and Clary a look before walking out of the room, Clary glanced over to Jace before she ran after Izzy, sensing she was the best one to help her in this moment.

Jace looked at Alec and let out a sigh, “you need to be nicer to Iz, you’re destroying her.”

“She wants to be stronger,” Alec shrugged, “then she has to take the criticism.”

Jace shook his head, “these powers are going to your head.”

“You know what,” Alec leaned forward, “I feel like you guys are all turning against me.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Jace hissed, “because you’re turning into a dick.”

Alec narrowed his eyes and scoffed, he stood up, “I don’t need this. We’re meant to be a team-”

“And you’re tearing it apart,” Jace replied, standing up to challenge Alec, “you don’t want to face the truth though, do you?”

Alec audibly growled, “I’m facing the truth now, you’re just a bunch of backstabbers.”

With that, he stormed off. Jace rolled his eyes at the older boy. Alec was definitely changing, getting more… Excuse the pun… Hotheaded. He was angry at all of them just because they didn’t agree with him. 

Jace frowned, Izzy was right to swap sides. Alec was changing and she got out whilst she could. He winced as the front door slammed closed. Apparently Alec wasn’t one for staying around too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: [CURRENTLY UNTITLED]  
> Jonas, Clary and Izzy do their best to protect members of the public.  
> (There's also new villains, new alliances and a long ass fight scene - I'm not even kidding, the fight alone is like 7 pages long)


	7. Don't Bank On It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izzy begins a search for Alec, but ends up getting wrapped into a surprising confrontation.

It was the day after the argument had broken out, Izzy hadn’t seen Alec since. She enlisted the help of Clary, yes she was angry at her brother but that didn’t mean that she didn’t care about him. He could have been anywhere. 

The first place she went to was Lydia’s shop.

They walked in, Izzy raised an eyebrow when she saw the delivery boy (in his citizen clothing) leaning on the counter talking to Lydia. Lydia paused the conversation however when she noticed Clary and Izzy enter.

“Clary, Izzy, hi!” Lydia smiled, “what uh… What’s up?”

Izzy approached the counter, looking curiously at the man before turning to Lydia, “have you seen Alec? He stormed off yesterday after we had a disagreement about… the thing?”

“The thing?” Lydia cocked her head.

“You know,” the man suddenly spoke, making Izzy jump, “their superhero rivalry,” he shrugged.

Izzy and Clary stared at the man, in shock.

“I didn’t tell him that,” Lydia held up her hands.

“I may be a delivery boy, but I’m pretty smart,” he grinned, pushing up his glasses with gloved hands as he spoke, “plus, you guys are the only people she talks to.”

Lydia let out an awkward laugh, “okay, you know what,” she leaned forward on the counter, “I don’t like how smart Jonas is.”

“Hey,” Jonas crossed his arms, “look, once I knew you were Tempest, I knew that these kids had to be the Element group.”

“You only saw us once,” Clary replied.

“Yeah, and that same night a bunch of new supers rocked up. A redhead, a tall angry guy, a blond dude and a girl with long black hair. Then they had masks that Lydia sold… You do the math.”

“Damn he’s a genius,” Izzy hissed, “wait, so do you know who Warlock is?”

“No,” Jonas scoffed, “they’re good at disguises.”

Clary’s mouth dropped open, ready to fight him

“I’m kidding! But no, I don’t know who any of them are.”

“It’s okay,” Clary smiled suddenly, “Izzy already does.”

“You do?” Lydia gasped.

“Yeah,” Izzy nodded, “but… I won’t tell… Look, don’t let Alec know but, I can’t be a bad guy. I want to help the Warlock and others. Imagine it! I can help them! If there’s a fire, I can put it out, if someone’s drowning, I can save them!”

Lydia slowly let a smile come to her face, “I see what you mean. What about you, Clary?”

“Undecided… I’m seeing how things go with Alec, if he gets worse than he is, then I’ll leave.”

“Well I’ll think about I-”

“Stop what you’re thinking Lydia,” Jonas suddenly spoke up, and held out his phone, pressing play on a video. Izzy looked at the screen and saw that it was a video of Warlock.

_“I’d like to clear something up about the Subway accident. People say that I saved everyone that day but that’s not the truth. The fact is that I was not the only hero that day, and looking back at it I should have admitted hat sooner. There was a young man who assisted me in saving the people. His name was John Monteverde, I learnt his name the other day from another young man who decided to confront me about his friend’s loss. John Monteverde died that day after helping a young girl. He sacrificed himself to save her and… I think we all need to know that John Monterverde was the real hero that day.”_

Izzy looked up to see Lydia covering her mouth, tears began to fall down her cheeks.

“He…”

Jonas rushed around the counter to wrap an arm around Lydia, “I told him the other day, when he knocked you out… Then he explained what John had done and-”

Lydia held her head high suddenly, “I’m with you Izzy. I’m going to join the good side.”

Clary grinned, “you know what, I’m with you too,” she replied, her hands on her hips, “I want to be a good person!”

Jonas clapped his gloved hands together, “fantastic, well uh,” he looked to Lydia, “I need to stop by the bank.”

“What if Alec’s there?” Lydia looked to Izzy, “we were texting the other day and he said about having issues with the bank.”

“Good idea,” Izzy smiled and grabbed Clary’s hand, “Jonas, we’re coming with you to the bank!”

“Awesome, people will finally think I have friends,” Jonas joked, glancing back to Lydia, “I’ll be back, if you’re okay with that.”

“I love your company,” Lydia winked as the boy left with izzy and Clary. Izzy called out a ‘we’ll take care of him’ as the door closed behind them.

* * * * *

Jonas was waiting in the queue, Izzy and Clary where stood by his side, they were unable to find Alec but they decided to stay with Jonas to keep him company.

“He could be with Magnus but… I don’t know where Magnus lives.”

“I could find out if you wanted,” Jonas glanced over his shoulder to her, “and by me, I mean my friend in Ohio.”

“Oh yeah, he’ll come in handy,” Clary joked with a tut, “all the way from Ohio.”

Jonas let out a chuckle, “okay, you’re right,” Jonas shrugged, “I’m sure Alec will turn up again, like a cat.”

”Alec as a cat?” Izzy began to giggle, “he is 100% Grumpy Cat!”

“Oh, I see it!” Clary squealed.

A group of people let out a loud gasp and began to rush to safety. Izzy looked over her shoulder and her eyes went wide, “jesus Jonas, are you psychic or something?”

There, in his full Flamethrower outfit, was Alec. Stood with two people Izzy had never seen before. A boy with hair blonder than Jace’s and a woman with long dark hair. 

Jonas pulled Clary and Izzy behind other members of the public and quickly pulled his phone out, “okay so you know how I said about my friend in Ohio?”

”Yeah?”

“Well, funny story, recently there was a case near him. A bunch of people started acting off, they just… They were being mind controlled.”

“Right?”

”The guy who was the cause of it, is the one dressed all in white. They referred to him as Master - original, right? As for the woman, I have no idea who she is…”

“They call me Mistress,” a voice whispered from behind them, the trio spun around and the woman seemed to stab both Clary and Izzy in the neck with her fingernails. The girls let out a shriek and the woman ran off, back to Flamethrower, who had his eyes narrowed at the trio.

“Master and Mistress,” Jonas mumbled, “that’s… that’s so stupid.”

“What the hell was that?” Izzy mumbled, rubbing her now sore neck.

“I have no clue,” Clary replied, “but I’ll make her regret it,” she flicked out her hands in an attempt to wrap Mistress’s ankles in vines. But nothing happened, “wh-what?” She flicked out her hands again.

“Nice try kid,” Flamethrower yelled to Clary, “but it won’t work,” suddenly he flicked out his own hands and created a line of fire - pushing the crowd of people back against the wall. Izzy tried to use her powers to put it out but it was useless, nothing happened.

“She must have taken our powers with that stupid nail stab,” Izzy hissed, almost yelling over the sound of the crackling fire. She looked around at the people who were panicking, “it’s okay,” she yelled, “don’t worry, we’ll get out of this! Warlock will be here soon.”

As she tried to calm the people, she noticed that Alec, Master and Mistress were headed towards the workers. 

“We need to stop them,” Izzy whispered quickly to Clary.

“Let’s just hop you’re right about Warlock getting here.”

Jonas seemed to take a deep breath, “we don’t need him.”

“What?” Clary cocked her head to the side, “yes, we do… We don’t have…”

Jonas pulled off his gloves and passed them to Clary, they then lost sight of him as he rushed through the crowds of panicking people. Izzy and Clary only looked at each other, confused about what the hell Jonas was on about. 

And then, within mere seconds, the fire went out, and a strip of ice took over where the fire had been. Jonas appeared again, grabbing his gloves from Clary and giving the girls a small smile, “don’t tell Lydia what just happened.”

“You…” Izzy pointed down to the ice, “did that?”

Flamethrower turned around, sensing the fire had gone out, Izzy looked over to her brother with her lips pressed together, she snatched the gloves back from Jonas, “you may need to use those powers again.”

“What?”

“Alec’s heading over,” Clary whispered. And the trio stared at Alec who was slowly approaching them.

“Who did that?” He growled.

“I did,” Jonas stepped out between the two girls, “so uh, yeah.”

“You? You’re just a delivery boy,” Alec laughed.

“Well maybe,” Jonas stepped back as Alec step forward, his hands being suddenly engulfed in flames, “but at least I don’t have a heart of ice,” he reached out and placed his right hand against Alec’s chest. Izzy watched as the flames on Alec’s hands went out and his lips began to turn blue, Jonas pulled his hand back and gave a sorrowful look, “I’m really sorry.”

The public had already began to run out by this point, Izzy, Clary and Jonas rushed towards the Mistress and Master, prepared to attack. Master and Mistress turned, grins on their faces and Master holding a back full of money.

“Oh please,” Master hissed, he looked behind the trio, “huh, that flame rekindled fast.”

Jonas turned around, seeing Alec’s hands once again engulfed in flames, he threw his arms out and a fire erupted around the trio. Jonas easily set it out again but after that he felt a prick on his neck.

“Foolish,” Mistress hissed.

“Great,” Clary whispered, “now none of us have powers.”

“Perhaps not,” Jonas frowned, he turned to Izzy, “but… have you ever been tickled so much that you just try to kick the tickler.”

Izzy raised an eyebrow, “I’m guessing you want us to kick the ticklers?”

“Exactly,” Jonas nodded.

Izzy took a deep breath and kicked her leg back, she felt it collide with the Mistress, she then turned to the woman and grinned, “is that all you’ve got? You know we don’t necessarily need powers to fight.”

“You’re right,” Mistress lifted her chin, “but I’m far stronger than you are,” she hissed like a vampire and Izzy took a step back. If her teeth were anything to go by, she had vampire abilities just like Fledgeling and Encanto.

“Clary can you give me your phone?” Izzy held out her hand.

Clary gave her an odd look but then finally gave her phone to Izzy.

Izzy unlocked the phone and went through the contacts, she found Simon’s number and called him. The same time backing away as Clary began to fight with Mistress.

“Hey Simon.”

“Simon?” Clary called out as she blocked a hit from Mistress, “why are you calling Simon?”

“Don’t worry!” Izzy yelled over to Clary, “have you maybe, perhaps, turned on the news at all.”

“No, why?”

”Because there’s currently a robbery happening at the bank o-”

The phone was hit out of her hand, and she stared up at her brother who was glaring down at her, his eyes narrowed, “not so fast Iz,” he grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes, “you’re not stopping this.”

”Perhaps not,” Izzy looked around, “but Warlock will.”

“Oh please,” Alec scoffed, “that pathetic Warlock isn’t here.”

“Pathetic?” A voice called out from behind Flamethrower, “I prefer… Playful,” Izzy smiled, as Warlock stepped forward, “now let the girl go.”

Flamethrower dropped Izzy’s hand and let out a low growl, walking toward Warlock, “you’re foolish for coming here.”

“Oh am I?” Warlock cocked his head to the side.

“It just means I get to finish you sooner than planned,” Flamethrower grinned, conjuring up a new ball of fire and tossing it towards Warlock, Warlock simply stepped to the side to avoid it so Flamethrower threw another, and another, and another, and whilst he was distracted - Izzy ran forward, pushing him to the ground from behind. 

She stood up again, placing a foot on Flamethrower’s back, “this isn’t you, you’re not some high class super villain who’s so up their own ass they see sunlight again. You’re… You’re Flamethrower, you only wanted revenge, not to rob a bank, not to hurt innocent people.”

“You don’t know what I want,” he replied, quietly.

Izzy glanced up to Warlock and then sighed, looking back down to Flamethrower, “you want love, you want adoration. You won’t get it if you… Act like this,” she crouched down close to his ear, “you want Magnus,” she whispered, not letting anyone else here (especially since Magnus was walking towards them as Warlock).

“He doesn’t need to know that this is me,” Flamethrower snapped, jolting back and pushing Izzy away. He stood up and looked at her, “I don’t need you, I don’t need Rush, or Envy, or that stupid Tempest.”

“Hey!” Jonas shouted, obviously offended by the implication.

“Aw,” Flamethrower stood up straight, tilting his head to the side, “did I insult your little crush?”

“You’re only scared because you know she’s stronger than you are!” Jonas stepped forward, Izzy caught a look that said ‘do something, I’m distracting him’ and so she rushed away, over to the doors. She pulled them open in time for a quick force to run through. Fledgeling, Encanto and Alpha. She smiled as they stopped inside the building, Flamethrower still distracted by Jonas.

“Scared? I’m not scared of her, she’s weak, she’s been taken out by Warlock twice.”

“And why’s that?”

”Because she was easily distracted,” he hissed, then he paused and glared at Jonas who had a grin showing on his face.

”Huh, well what do you know?” Jonas tapped a finger on his chin.

Izzy rushed outside glancing among the public who had gathered, several news station vans had already arrived.

”The police have been slacking,” she whispered to herself, she frowned and rushed over to a young girl who was by her self, “are you alright?”

The girl nodded and then looked inside, “will my dad be alright?”

“Your dad?”

“He works in the bank, I was waiting for him.”

The workers. Izzy stood up, she wanted to go back inside but judging by the commotion that was Flamethrower fighting off the four heroes, she couldn’t get through that way without getting into crossfire. She looked down at the young girl, “is there a way to get into the back?”

“Not without a key card.”

“Damn,” Izzy frowned, glancing up at a window on the second floor.

“There is the stairs though,” the young girl grinned, “papa showed me, it’s a secret though. Up there, there is a set of stairs that leads you down two levels to the basement, but on the floor level landing there’s a ‘do not enter’ sign. It leads through the offices.”

“Great, I just need to get up there,” Izzy pulled a face, she glanced around and paused when she saw a blur rushing towards the crowd, “just in time big brother,” she whispered, and moments later Rush appeared by her side.

”What the he-”

“Get me up to that window,” she basically demanded, pointing up to the open window.

“Are you insane?”

“Right now? Somewhat.”

Jace, well, Rush, rolled his eyes and picked up Izzy, “hold on, I don’t want to drop you.” He ran back through the crowd to get a run up, taking a deep breath, “just to be clear, I haven’t practised running up walls.

“Jace, there are people in there, in the offices. That freaking Master and Mistress are going to hurt people! Jace come on, be a hero, please.”

Jace nodded and ran towards the building, when it came to it he rush up the side and landed on the second floor behind the window.

“Awesome,” Izzy squealed slightly, she pushed the window open and looked down, “hey, little girl!”

The young girl looked up and gasped.

“What way are the stairs to the offices?”

The girl pointed to her right and Izzy nodded, giving a quick thank you thumbs up and a smile to the young girl. She rushed towards the direction, tugging Jace along with her.

“Alec’s…” He began as he could see down to the floor below.

“Shush,” Izzy hushed him and continued to pull him, “Jace listen, Clary, Jonas and I don’t have our powers and-”

“Jonas has powers?”

“Yeah, it’s a long story, don’t tell Lydia. Anyway, that Mistress woman took them from us, pricked our necks with her fingernails and just like… absorbed the powers from us.”

“Sucks,” Jace whispered, he and Izzy quietly crept towards the stairs, they rushed down them, only pausing when they were blocked from view by a wall, “so about Jonas’s powers?”

“Think of Elsa.”

“Elsa?”

”Frozen!”

”He has ice powers! That’s so cool,” Jace paused and then began to chuckle, “I did not even mean to make that pun.”

“You’re terrible,” Izzy frowned. As they reached the door she went to open it, but it was locked, “shit…”

“Step aside young one,” Jace patted Izzy’s shoulder and then reached for the handle. He pulled it with one strong tug and… It came off of the door, “that’s one way to do it,” he tossed the handle over his shoulder and the door swung open. Several employees were stood still in the room, staring at nothing, there were one or two hidden under the desk whilst Master began to fill bags up with money. Jace ran out of view just before Master looked up.

“Oh, come to play one of my mind games?” He grinned, putting the bag down and stepping forward.

Izzy took a breath, “you’re a dirty monster.”

“Oh, that’s new,” he replied in a dark somewhat playful tone, “and you must be my little princess, huh? No knight to save you though, looks like you won’t have a happy ending.”

“I don’t need a knight,” she rushed to the side and grabbed a fire extinguisher that had been hooked to the wall, she swung it around, only just missing Master’s head. She could see that Jace had already taken the bags of money, “where did your bags go?” She asked, the Master let down his guard and turned around, shocked to see the bags had gone, Izzy grinned and took the chance to hit him around the head with the extinguisher. She turned as the workers suddenly seemed to break out of their spell. They looked around, shocked and scared.

“Follow me,” Jace called out, slowly leading them out of the offices to the stairwell. Izzy walked at the back of the group, ready to run around to extinguish the flames but her ankle was grabbed suddenly, Master was on the floor glaring up at her. She tried to pull away but it as too late, a moment after looking into his eyes she lost all control. 

* * * * * 

“Izzy?” Jace called back as the group of workers stopped on the stairs, he stopped the workers and looked around, “Izzy!” He frowned and pointed towards the door, “get out there before Flamethrower notices, try to stay against the wall.”

The workers did as ordered and Jace ran back through the stairwell. He paused in the doorway of the office, seeing Izzy assisting Master in packing a new bag with money. Jace had taken the other bags out to the now surrounding police officers. He pulled a face and quietly stepped into the room.

“What are you doing?” He called out, grabbing the attention, of Master and Izzy. Izzy turned and began walking towards him, as she got closer Jace could see he eyes were entirely white, no iris, no pupils. 

“Take him out,” Master hissed and on command Izzy began to fight jace, throwing a punch. Jace managed to dodge it thanks to his speed, but Izzy only became more determined. Jace backed away, towards the stairwell again.

“Yeah Izzy, take me out,” he let out a playful laugh and led her out of the offices. She continued to try kicking and punching him. He ran up the stairs, receiving a cold glare from the girl, “ever heard that song by Selena Gomez, if you’re ready come and get it?” he chuckled and then began to chant the ‘na na na’s as he ran away from Izzy who had began to chase him again.

”Rush!” Jace turned as he neared the main area of the bank where others were still fighting, he saw Jonas at the bottom of the stairs, “she’s being mind controlled.”

“You don’t say,” Jace replied, jumping down to the bottom of the stairs, staring up at Izzy. She slowly began to step down the steps, head tilted, eyes wide and white.

“How did the workers get out of their trance?”

“Izzy attacked Master.”

“Great, we’ll let us take care of this one,” he pointed to Izzy.

“We?”

On cue, Clary came running around the other side of Jace, she grabbed her right arm and looked into the girl’s white eyes, “Izzy, come on it’s me,” she tried to hold the girl’s hand but Izzy jerked back, only wanting to attack Jace. Jonas grabbed Izzy’s other arm and glanced over to Clary, “we just need to hold her.”

Clary nodded, gripping Izzy’s arm, the controlled girl was thrashing in their hold, Jace used that moment to rush past them and into the office again. He closed the door and pushed a table against it, grinning when the white-haired boy turned around.

“You again?”

”Nice try,” Jace laughed, “but my friends have my back.”

The boy rolled his eyes and moved towards Jace, Jace made a point to avoid eye contact with the boy, he grabbed a chair from a desk and threw it at the boy, Master seemed to dodge the chair easily. Jace growled and ran around to the other side, before Master could turn around, Jace hit the blond in the head and Master stumbled oddly and as he did, Jace grabbed the other bag of money from one of the desks and ran to the door. He pushed the table out of the way and ran out the door. Rushing through the stairwell, he was glad to see Izzy stood beside Clary and Jonas, keeping out of danger. He came to a stop next to Jonas and placed the bag on the floor.

“What now?”

”We… We need to stop them,” Izzy sighed.

“How do we do that without powers?” Jonas looked over to the two girls.

“Well, I still have mine,” Jace scoffed, waving his hand.

“Fantastic!” Izzy and Jonas cried at the same time.

“Run circles around Alec,” Izzy ordered, “fires can’t burn without oxygen, just don’t suffocate him.”

Jace nodded, he had no choice but to run around the entire group.

”Fledgeling!” Izzy stepped forward, the vampire turned, watching her through the blurs of Rush, “get your team out!”

She saw Fledgeling nod, grabbing Encanto, Warlock and Alpha from the inside of the area that was beginning to lack oxygen. 

Mistress was thrown out of the area, she fell onto the ground, pushing herself up with a growl. Fledgeling ran to make sure she didn’t do any more damage whilst the others watch. The flames flickered out and it was clear enough to see Alec fall onto his knees, weakened by the lack of oxygen. 

Jace came to a stop in front of him.

“Don’t do this. Don’t become something you’re not.”

“I’m not…”

”Get out now you idiot,” Mistress hissed, having escaped Fledgeling, she grabbed Flamethrower by his jacket and tugged him to the exit.

And they were gone.

Jace turned to the trio who were still stood on the steps, he frowned and quickly ran back up the stairs and through to the offices, when he opened the door, Master had gone. He ran back and picked up the bag, “listen, you guys might be lacking your powers right now but… You didn’t even need them to help,” he smiled, “true heroes.”

“I’d be honoured,” Warlock stepped forward, “if you joined in our cause, protect the city from villains such as Flamethrower, even if you did almost kill me the other day,” his face was shadowed by his hood but Izzy could tell he was glaring at Jace, “you showed heroic abilities and even if you don’t have pow-”

“We all have powers,” Jonas admitted, earning a quick glare from Clary.

“Wait, Clary, you have powers?” Fledgeling stepped forward, giving Clary a look of concern.

”Uh… Why would you care? How do you even know my name?”

”Well you- I… I mean- It’s-”

“You’ll find out at the lab,” Izzy turned to Clary with a grin.

“Warlock,” Jonas ran over to the hooded man, “about… Being good… Heroes. Tempest has changed her mind.”

“Hmm?”

”She saw your announcement, about John… She wants to be a hero, she wants to make him proud.”

Jonas would have sworn that he could see a smile show on Warlock’s face, “I would be delighted to meet her, to speak to her face to face.”

“We’ll swing by the lab tomorrow!” Izzy suggested, “I’m sure Ly- Tempest can make it, one day without the mask shop being open wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Right” Jonas nodded, “wait!” He threw out his hands in a dramatic fashion, “I need… everyone to promise that Tempest can’t know I have powers!”

”Why not?” Jace crossed his arms, “she wouldn’t be offended.”

“She likes me as I am,” Jonas whispered, “I… I’m scared of what she’ll think of me.”

“She literally controls the weather,” Encanto rolled his eyes, “you know nothing good comes out of not telling your loved ones a secret.”

“Please,” he looked around with bright puppy eyes, “I just want her to think I’m normal.”

“Speaking of normal,” Rush cleared his throat, “we should probably get back to our day to day lives,” he glanced at the trio of his friends, “and you better do whatever you need to do.”

“We were looking for Flamethrower to be honest,” Izzy sighed, “we found him but, not how we were hoping to.”

“And I have a boyfriend to get to," Warlock let out a low chuckle.

Jace noticed a flinch from Izzy but decided not to question it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Holy Hot Date, Batman!  
> After the incident at the bank, somebody decides to finally make a move.  
> (There's also lazy Raphael, comfort food and Batman!)


	8. Holy Hot Date, Batman!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the incident at the bank, Alec struggles with who he really should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like FOREVER since I updated!

Alec paced in his bedroom struggling to breathe, everything had happened so fast, he had teamed up with Master and Mistress, he had joined their attack on the bank and he had almost… He had almost burnt a building down. He had almost hurt people.

He ran his hands through his hair, beginning to tug at chunks of it, “why, why, why?”

He kept his eyes closed as he paced. The were right, he was changing.

“This isn’t me, this isn’t me!” 

He broke the pacing, falling down onto his bed. He was angry, and ashamed. It wasn’t until tears were falling down his cheeks that he knew he was sad. He was breaking. Life was perfectly fine before these stupid powers came along, he let out a sigh and turned onto his side. He opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a photo of himself, Jace, Izzy and Max on his bedside table. 

Izzy holding Max, both of them with radiant smiles as they laughed. Jace and Alec were attempting to mimic them but during the photo Alec had began to slip from Jace’s grip. Causing hilarity to be captured in time. They were fun. They were happy.

Now Alec just felt broken and afraid.

“I’m going to become a monster,” he whispered, he grabbed the frame and held it against his chest, “I already am one…”

“Alec?”

Alec sat up straight as a small voice caught him off guard, Max was stood by the door watching him cautiously.

”Max… What do you… What do you want?”

“Are you okay? You were making loud noises, mom sent me to ask if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re crying, you never cry.”

“No, I’m not crying!”

“Yes you ar-”

“Just get out!”

Max flinched, he looked around nervously, “s-sorry.”

As Max ran out of the room, Alec looked back down to the photo frame in his hand, he closed his eyes again. He had already made so many mistakes, there was no going back now. He dropped the frame to the floor and turned over to stare at the opposite wall.

“Nobody’s safe anymore,” he mumbled and then buried his head in his pillow, “nobody’s safe.”

* * * * *

“I don’t get how Fledgeling knew my name,” Clary hummed as she made her way to the flower shop with Izzy, “did you tell him?”

“No,” Izzy shook her head, “and I won’t tell you how he knows, just… You’ll find out at the lab tomorrow, I swear!”

“I better,” Clary frowned, “otherwise I’ll make you pay!” She spoke in a dramatic tone, which only ended in a giggle.

Izzy raised an eyebrow, “you’ll make me pay?”

“I’ll make you pay!”

Izzy paused, placing her hands on her hips, then she rushed forward and began to tickle Clary, “I don’t think so!”

It escalated quickly into a full on tickle fight in the middle of the sidewalk, several members of public were concerned but only continued to walk. Clary did her best to fight back but stopped when Izzy had pinned her back against a wall.

“You lose,” Izzy whispered, they were only inches apart. Both girls fought their urges, but eventually Izzy began to lean in.

“Clary!” They both turned to see Clary’s mother stood outside her flower shop, waving for her daughter to come to the shop.

Clary sighed, “maybe next time,” she smiled politely to Izzy and then grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the flower shop. Izzy laughed along with Clary as they entered the shop. The strong scent of the flowers caught Izzy off guard (which was silly, she was literally walking into a flower shop). 

“This place is beautiful,” Izzy commented as she looked around the shop, “gorgeous. How do you run a place like this.”

“Faith, trust and pixie dust,” Clary commented with a wave of her fingers, “we take good care of it.”

“And somehow the plants are in a very healthy state recently,” Clary’s mother continued with a smile, “Clary I need you to take care of the shop whilst I run to the bookstore, Luke gave me the wrong book.”

Once Jocelyn had left the store Clary grinned to Izzy, “he gave her the wrong book on purpose, he wants to spend more time with her.”

Izzy nodded, “so that thing about the healthy plants?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Clary acted innocent, faking a gasp, are you accusing me of helping the precious plants? How would I do that? I’m just an innocent girl without super powers.”

Izzy crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, “oh, shame. I’m only looked for girls with super powers.”

Clary grinned, “then it’s your lucky day!” She held out her arms, “now if I’m right, you owe me a kiss?”

Izzy pressed her lips together to hide a laugh, she slowly moved towards Clary and placed a quick kiss on her lips, “there, happy?”

“Not really,” Clary pouted, “up against the wall, it seemed like it was going to be a lot mo-”

Izzy quickly placed one hand around Clary’s neck and pulled her closer, catching her lips in a kiss much deeper than the previous one. Izzy’s other hand moved to Clary’s waist. Clary pulled back quickly with a giggle.

“Okay, perhaps I challenged you too much, I’m meant to be watching the shop.”

“Good point,” Izzy sighed, “we’ll continue that later, your place or mine?”

Clary hummed, “mine, I don’t want to risk running into Alec again after today… Something’s changed with your brother, Iz… It’s like his powers are going to his head,” she paused, staring into the distance, “he’s literally hotheaded.”

“You’re right,” Izzy sighed, following Clary to the counter. “it’s definitely the powers. He was never like this before,” she leaned on the counter, “it’s scaring me, I… I’m terrified of him now.”

Clary placed her hand over Izzy’s, “try not to be Iz, I know it’s scary but… Think of what’s going on in his head right now Izzy,” she picked up Izzy’s hand and fiddled with the girl’s fingers playfully, “you know, I think we should go on a date. You, me… There’s this amazing bakery down the street from here, when mom gets back we can go! My friend Simon should be on shift.”

”Simon?” Izzy choked out, trying her best not to be suspicious.

“Yeah, remember?”

“Oh yeah, your best friend! I remember now!”

Clary giggled, Izzy examined her face, smiling as she did. Clary’s giggle was beautiful - the most beautiful thing Izzy had seen in quite a while. She could get used to Clary’s beauty, she wanted it in her life.

* * * * *

Simon hummed to himself as he wiped down the counter whilst there were no customers to attend to, he looked up as the door opened. He recognised the red hair straight away and gasped. Clary and Izzy walked in.

He remained calm, he couldn’t show Clary anything that would give away what had happened earlier. He cleared his throat and smiled over to them, “well if it isn’t my favourite redhead and… who’s this?” He looked to Izzy, pretending to have no idea who she was.

Izzy quickly played along, stepping forward and holding out her hand, “Clary’s soon to be girlfriend, you must be Simon, right?”

“Right.”

“Simon has been my best friend for years,” Clary giggled, leaning on the counter, “we know everything about each other.”

Simon let out a nervous chuckle, but Clary looked past it, “yeah, we know everything.”

“I bet you do,” Izzy nodded, watching Simon carefully, “I bet you do.”

“So, what can I get you?”

“One of the gooiest chocolate brownies,” Clary grinned as she made her order, “and… a tea.”

“Good choice,” he nodded, “and Izzy?”

Clary’s grin dropped, “we didn’t told you her name.”

“Yes I did,” Izzy quickly responded, lying but Clary wouldn’t know, “I said ‘Clary’s soon to be girlfriend, Izzy’.”

“I could have swor-”

“You just fazed out honey,” Izzy placed a hand on Clary’s shoulder, “I’ll have a blueberry muffin and a hot chocolate.”

“Right.”

Simon brought their order to the counter a few minutes later and they quickly paid him. He watched as they sat over at a table, he kept a smile up and then disappeared into the back room. He crossed his arms and looked down at Raphael, “how am I supposed to tell Clary that I have powers? And I know she has powers?”

“Oh yeah, the reveal tomorrow.”

“She’s out there with Izzy, I almost gave it away. I said Izzy’s name accidentally before they had told me her name. Izzy covered for me though.”

“You used to be so good at this,” Raphael tutted, leaning back on his chair, “when are you going to be done? I’m bored.”

“This is why I told you to get your own job.”

“But I prefer pandering you,” Raphael pouted.

“Yeah, I know you do,” Simon rolled his eyes, “I don’t prefer it.”

Raphael faked a gasp, “you’re the worst boyfriend ever.”

Simon scoffed and walked back toward the shop front, “oh come on, even you know that’s a lie.”

He stood behind the counter again, smiling as he looked over to Clary and Izzy. They were sat, having a conversation that both of them were obviously enjoying. He couldn’t help but think about what Clary’s reaction could be the following day when he’d reveal his identity to her. Perhaps she’d understand, he could only hope she’d be calm about it. 

He looked up again as the door opened, Magnus walked in by himself. 

“Hey Simon.”

Simon heard another choked sound from Izzy’s direction, as Clary began to turn around Izzy grabbed her hands to pull her attention back.

“The usual?” Simon offered.

“Yes please, and a slice of carrot cake for Alec. I’m inviting him over. I need some time with him after that exhausting event today.”

“Ah, of course,” Simon smiled, “use protection, yeah?”

“Relax,” Magnus laughed as Simon placed the blueberry muffin and the croissant into one box and a slice of carrot cake in another, “we’re not going to have sex. That’s far too soon.”

“Good boy,” Simon chuckled.

“One second,” Simon saw Izzy leave Clary at the table, she rushed over to Magnus and grabbed his arm, “listen Magnus, I… Alec might be in a bad state, please… Make him happy.”

“Oh, I shall, Isabelle,” Magnus smiled, “he’s quite the sweetheart.”

“Yeah,” Izzy nodded, “thank you. She waved a hand and rushed back to her own table.

Simon looked at Magnus with a grin, “sxhe will break you if you hurt him.”

”I know,” Magnus nodded, dropping the money on the counter and picking up the boxes, “tell Raph I said hi.”

Then he left.

Simon poked his head around the corner of the doorway about to tell Raphael what Magnus had said but all he got was a ‘I HEARD HIM!’

* * * * *

Alec opened his eyes as his phone buzzed, he picked it up quickly and looked at the text.

_Magnus: come over? I have food and cuddles! Xxx_

_A smile fought it’s way onto Alec’s face._

_Alec: idk I kinda feel like shit rn xxx_

_Magnus: then come cuddle and eat some comfort food, I’ll take care of you xxx_

_Alec: … alright, I’ll be over asap.xxx_

He got up to his feet and pulled on a coat, not the one he had given to Magnus the other day - he still had a hold of that one. He then rushed down the stairs, and then ran around to the back of the house. He didn’t say a word to his family, just grabbed his bike and started pedalling to Magnus’s apartment. Magnus was going to cure him, make him better. Perhaps they’d cuddle, or make out, either way Magnus’s touch would make him feel far better. 

He was outside the apartment complex soon enough, he found a safe place to put his bike. He then ran inside the complex and made his way up to Magnus’s apartment. He knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately, Magnus was stood in front of him in a pair of sweatpants, that was all. 

“Wow,” Alec whispered, he stepped into the apartment, “you look so good like this.”

”Thanks, it’s my lazy day - trust me, I deserve it.”

Alec chuckled and reached for Magnus’s hand as he closed the door, “you do?”

“I do,” he laughed softly, “and so do you,” Magnus tugged Alec closer, “so, I’ve got us some food.”

They walked through to the kitchen and on the counter Alec saw two boxes from the bakery they had been to before. 

“Aw,” Alec rushed to the boxes, “you bought me food.”

“Not all for you,” Magus tutted, “I got you carrot cake, I know you liked it.”

“Thank you,” Alec turned with a smile, “thank you so much,” he opened a box, lucky guess, it was the one with the carrot cake in it. He smiled over to Magnus, “you’re so… you know how to treat a guy,” he stepped closer to Magnus and managed to catch him in a quick kiss, “no promises I’ll look attractive whilst eating this.”

“I don’t mind, really,” Magnus chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll look fine.”

Alec raised an eyebrow, “wanna bet?” He picked up the carrot cake from the box and began eating it in the most slobbish manner, he paused only briefly to laugh along with Magnus, “I told you. I’m a monster.”

Magnus grinned, he stepped forward and wiped a thumb along Alec’s bottom lip, holding it up to show Alec the white frosting, “you have no idea what my eating habits are when I’m starving,” it sounded almost seductive but after a moment of serious eye contact, Magnus reached up and wiped the frosting across Alec’s forehead, “Simba,” he whispered in a low voice. Alec snorted out a laugh and bated Magnus’s hand away.

”I can’t believe you just did that,” he snorted out a laugh and rubbed the frosting off of his forehead. He then scraped a bit of frosting from the cake slice and wiped it on Magnus’s cheek, before Magnus could attempt to wipe the frosting off Alec had already taken care of it. Pressing his lips against Magnus cheek (and perhaps licking was involved) and in a moment the frosting had gone.

Magnus laughed again, looking at Alec who once again had frosting covering his lips, “you’re something, Alexander. Whatever you are, it’s beautiful.”

Alec felt his cheeks turn red, he ducked it down quickly but Magnus lifted it up again by his chin with his forefinger, “thanks,” Alec finally managed to respond, “I really like you Magnus.”

“I really like you too,” Magnus smiled and quickly kissed Alec’s frosting covered lips, sneaking out a quick tongue to catch more of the frosting. He laughed once again when Alec reacted to feeling the tongue run across his bottom lip.

A second or so later, Alec had moved back in for another kiss, catching Magnus’s lips and working with him on the longest kiss they had had (granted they had only really had one or two actual kisses). Magnus’s hands moved to Alec’s waist, quickly wrapping his arms around the taller man, and then Alec placed his hands on Magnus’s shoulders, eventually snaking them around his neck. 

It would be stupid, to move so quickly so soon, but Alec needed this relief, he needed someone to love him like Magnus probably could. He was content around Magnus, he knew as soon as he left, he’d end up being angry again. An angry monster. But for now, he could be a young man falling in love - and it was going to be beautiful.

* * * * *

Jace took a deep breath as he took a seat at home, Izzy had the right idea. Become a good guy, a superhero. He remembered the joy he felt when Max ran in saying Rush was his favourite hero. Of course, he remembered the hurt on Alec’s face when Max also said he hated Flamethrower, but now, it wasn’t exactly surprising that people wouldn’t like Flamethrower. He had almost burnt down a bank. If it hadn’t been for Jonas- 

Jonas. The boy had been terrified of Lydia finding out about his abilities. Which was silly seeing as she was The Tempest after all. But if Jonas didn’t want her finding out, they’d keep it secret. It wasn’t fair, it was like outing a friend before they were ready to come out themselves. Of course it would get complicated if Lydia didn’t know, but the sooner the better.

He was prepared to become a good person, team up with the heroes. It would be fun, saving people. Helping. 

He also couldn’t stop thinking about that Master and Mistress duo. They seemed to have the potential of pure evil. He hoped and prayed that Alec would still keep his sanity and not stoop to their level. 

Then again… Alec was changing. That was terrifying. 

He looked over his shoulder as he heard Max walk into the room, a small pout on his face.

“What’s up Maxxie?” Jace asked in the softest tone he could.

Max sighed and sat next to Jace, “Alec hates me.”

”Huh?”

”He yelled at me earlier because I asked why he was upset. He hates me.”

Jace frowned, “he yelled at you?”

“He yelled at me to get out of his room. Why doesn’t he like me?”

“It’s not you Maxxie, I promise,” Jace wrapped an arm around his brother, “you’re not at fault.”

“I’m not?”

“Alec’s going through a tough time lately, he doesn’t… He doesn’t realise how he’s reacting to people at all. He just keeps losing it, getting angry and hurting the ones he loves,” he pulled Max onto his lap and sighed, “he’ll change soon, I’m sure.”

Max leaned back against Jace, “I want him to change now. I don’t like him when he’s angry.”

“Nobody does,” Jace chuckled, “I don’t even think he likes him when he’s angry.”

“Is there something wrong with him?”

“I don’t know Max,” Jace ran a hand through the young boy’s hair, “I don’t know, we’ll find out. We will.”

* * * * *

Lydia turned the open sign on the door and tucked her hair behind her ears as she made her way to collect her bag from the counter. She looked back to the door and jumped when she saw Jonas waiting outside, she began to laugh and then ran over to the door.

”It’s still open.”

“I was being polite,” he smiled, “so… Did you hear about the bank today?”

”The bank? What about it?” 

Jonas sighed, “your tall, dark and handsome friend attacked, flameboy. With these two other villains. He started a fire after Izzy and Clary had their powers taken, we managed to put the fire out-”

“How?”

Jonas hesitated, pulling the beanie off of his head before he spoke, “well I mean Izzy’s powers took a little while to disappear. She managed to put out the fire before they completely went.”

“Is it permanent?”

“Hm?”

”The power disappearance?”

Jonas pulled a face, tilting his head to the side, “you know what… I have a feeling that it won’t be,” he laughed slightly, Lydia raised an eyebrow when she noticed it seemed to be awkward one, but she shrugged it off.

“Good,” she stepped forward, closer to Jonas, “do you want to come meet Batman?”

“You know, Lydia, I feel like my entire life has been leading up to the moment where I would meet a pomeranian named Batman.”

“You’ll see why he has that name,” she winked, chuckling playfully. 

Jonas stared at Lydia for a moment, a smile playing on his face, “can I… uh-”

“Can you…?”

”Nevermind,” he shrugged, “we can talk about it later. For now, I want to meet Batman, and also possibly get some cuddling? I really e-enjoyed me that time.”

“Oh really?” Lydia grinned, “well, I like to think of myself as a master spooner. You know if we cuddle, you have to tell me about everything that happened at the bank?”

”Everything?”

”Everything.”

* * * * *

Batman was called because he was a black pomeranian, with a white tuft of hair on his front. It was almost exactly like the Batman symbol. Jonas was entertained to find that the dog collar Batman wore had several small pockets added to it.

“It’s his utility collar,” Lydia giggled, “I’ve gone all out for Batman, he’s the best little guard dog around.”

“There is not a single chance I would ever believe you could have a Pomeranian as a guard dog Lyds.”

“Okay, so he’s a good friend.”

Jonas grinned, “yeah, I believe you having a dog as a best friend.”

Lydia gasped, hitting Jonas’s shoulder, “you dork, you’re my best friend!”

Jonas froze, blinking slowly, “I… I am?”

Lydia looked at the boy, reaching out and grabbing his hands, “of course you are, I talk to you more than anyone… You saved me the other day, told Warlock the truth about John-”

“Oh! That’s right! That’s one thing I have to tell you,” Jonas grabbed both of Lydia’s hands, “how do you feel about being a good guy, meeting at their lab tomorrow. Jace, Clary and I are all in on it.”

“You?”

“Yeah, I kicked ass. I don’t need powers to kick ass.”

“If Clary had her powers taking-”

“She too kicked ass,” Jonas broke away from Lydia, “like this,” he re-enacted the fighting that had happened at the bank, “and Jace is like… Really cool, he took down this guy who could control people’s minds, Master. He needs to get a better name anyway, it’s terrible.”

Lydia smiled, “what do you think of The Tempest?”

”Best name ever,” he whispered stepping closer to Lydia, “I know you’ve been keeping up with your literature.”

Lydia laughed quietly, there was a silent moment between them. In the perfect world, Jonas would have leaned in and caught a kiss whilst he could, but instead he shied away and turned his attention to Batman who was running over his feet. He began to chuckle, crouching down and picking up Batman gently.

“So, if he’s Batman, are you Robin?”

“I’m more of an Alfred,” she shrugged, “you can be Robin though.”

“I think Alfred and Robin would be a pretty weird love story,” Jonas said as he turned away to place Batman on the floor, when he let go of the dog he paused, realising what he had said, he stood up and turned quickly. Lydia had a shocked expression on her face.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“I really didn’t,” Jonas mumbled, “look, if it was inappropriate and you want me to leave, I will. I’ll swap placement with Ragnor, you won’t have to see or talk to me agai-”

“Jonas!” Lydia quickly grabbed his shoulders, “you heard me, you’re my best friend.”

Jonas nodded slowly, best friends, of course, “okay, okay, cool. I’m really sorry.”

“And my favourite stories are ones where they fall in love with their best friend, who would know them better?” She moved her hands down his arms and held both of his hands, “plus, even though you were freezing cold, I loved cuddling you the other night.”

“Yeah, I get cold easily,” Jonas knew why he was cold, it was because of his new found powers - that was obvious. He didn’t exactly want to tell Lydia though, of course he really should have but… He couldn’t. 

Lydia pressed her lips together, “you want to try dating sometime?”

“I’d love that,” Jonas grinned, “can’t we have one tonight? Me, you and Batman. Cuddle up and watching some films?”

“Of course, if we can watch Frozen?”

Jonas let out an awkward laugh, “y-yeah, yeah we can.”

“One day,” Lydia began as she walked over to her DVD collection, “I want to be able to create a snowstorm, I can control all types of weather but I’ve struggled with snow. I’ve never been able to.”

Jonas rolled his eyes, “why though, snow is so cold… and Miserable.”

“Like you then!” Lydia joked, jumping up quickly.

Jonas rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you just called me miserable, I’m like the most happiest cutest boy ever.”

“I beg to differ,” Lydia teased, “Batman is the cutest boy ever,” she cooed over to the dog.

“Boo to that,” Jonas rolled his eyes, taking a seat on Lydia’s sofa.

“First thing about dating, we need to know everything about each other,” Lydia smiled, “so one day, perhaps not today, we should open up about everything, you know?”

”Deal, I’ll tell you all about my adventurous past,” Jonas put on a smile, thinking briefly about his relationships, “and how I’ve learnt from them.”

“If it’s difficult-”

“No, I want you to know,” he nodded, “and I’ve needed to tell someone about my past, and I haven’t exactly had many friends. I mean I have that one friend in Ohio, but he knows basically everything anyway, he was the only one I had when I was going through it. So, how about after we get back form the lab tomorrow? Because right now, I want to watch Disney movies.”

“Oh you’re going to come over tomorrow?”

“If you’re cool with it.”

Lydia hummed, after a short while, she nodded, “that would be awesome, the shop isn’t open tomorrow anyway so we can head straight back here.”

“Awesome,” Jonas chuckled when Batman jumped onto the sofa next to him, “cuddle up with Batman,” he chuckled. Lydia put a DVD into the player and sat next to Jonas.

”Cuddle up with me too,” she whispered, leaning into him.

Jonas grinned and wrapped his other arm around Lydia, “there you go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Backstory  
> After the new group of heroes is assembled, we find out a bit more about somebody's past.  
> (There's also bad dreams, jokes about Flamethrower and a new alias!)


	9. Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec and Jonas both struggle with their powers and hiding them from the ones they love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter mentions rape and suicide.

Izzy arranged for everyone to meet at Lydia’s shop in the morning, herself, Jace, Clary, Jonas and Lydia. Of course they had to keep it quiet from Alec. 

“Fledgeling will be here soon,” she whispered, glancing over to Clary, wondering what she would think when she found out her best friend was Fledgeling.

She had stayed with Clary the previous night, and learned from Jace that Alec hadn’t come home after staying with Magnus. Which meant either Warlock wouldn’t be at the lab, or Magnus would be leaving Alec at his apartment. She and Clary knew they had regained their shortly after their trip to the bakery, and they knew Jonas would have had his back too. Jonas had managed to whisper to Izzy that Lydia didn’t know about his powers and if she were to ask, Izzy managed to put out the fire. 

“What’s the difference between a mermaid and siren?” Izzy jumped as Fledgeling spoke up from behind her, they all turned to him with heads cocked to the side.

Izzy grinned, “mermaids are half fish half human, and sirens go-”

Together they impersonated sirens and let out a laugh.

“Long story,” she waved a hand.

”If you guys follow me,” he began to walk, the group closely following, “we have two routes, one is slow and boring, the other will get us there in a second.”

“I like the second option,” Jace grinned with a wave of his hand.

“Oh, you’ll make it even quicker!” Fledgeling smiled over, “first things first, into this alley, we can’t just speed off with people in view, can we?”

”Well, you can,” Jonas pointed out, “since people know that you’re Fledgeling, but Jace isn’t in disguise so…”

“Yeah, whatever, let’s just go into the alley.”

Fledgeling smiled and looked around, “right, you,” he pointed to Jace, “pick someone up, and then follow me, I’ll lead you to the labs.”

Jace nodded, he picked up Izzy first, Fledgeling decided to pick up Clary - of course the redhead was slightly scared since they had been enemies. They then ran toward the lab, Fledgeling in front. They came to a stop in front of the labs and let Izzy and Clary onto their own feet. 

“Wait here, we’ll be right back.”

Izzy smiled over to Clary, “this place is nice, right?”

“It doesn’t look like a lab.”

”It’s incognito,” Izzy tutted, she reached out to grab Clary’s hand, “Clary, can you vow not to go off on one if… If you know someone who’s a part of this group.”

“Of course,” Clary shrugged, “why?”

Izzy sighed, “just, if you do, don’t freak out.”

“You know who they are,” Clary placed her hands on her hips, “do I know any of them?”

”You’ll find out.”

Jace and Fledgeling returned with Jonas and Lydia. As Lydia and Jonas got to their feet, Jonas swayed slightly, “I’ve decided I don’t like high speed travel.”

Izzy giggled and turned to Fledgeling, “so, take us inside Fledgeling.”

“Before I do,” he turned to the group, “this entire thing is based on trust, we’re all trusting in there. Well, Encanto can be a bit… Edgy. But I promise he’s actually really soft.”

Clary raised an eyebrow to Izzy.

“They’re super cute together,” she shrugged, “I swear.”

“Encanto and Fledgeling are dating?” Clary’s eyes grew wide. She looked over as Fledgeling let out a laugh.

“You know, that’s not going to be the most shocking thing you find out today,” he almost mumbled as he opened the door, welcoming them into a building where the walls were white (almost blinding) and it was a stretched corridor that led to larger room. Izzy could already see Maia sat down at the desk. She was talking to someone opposite, with a grin on her face. Izzy couldn’t see who she was talking to but it was obviously one of three people.

They gathered in the room, this time none of the team were surprised - because they were all there at the time of the agreement. Izzy noted that Magnus wasn’t there yet, and Alpha and Encanto were in their day to day forms. 

“Luke?” Clary’s eyes grew wide as she set her eyes on the man.

“You know him?” Maia stared at the girl.

“He’s kind of dating my mom!”

Luke let out an awkward laugh, “note the kind of.”

“You’re…”

Izzy placed a hand on Clary’s shoulder, “just take a breath, I think first of all, they should know your abilities,” she crossed her arms and watched Clary, “go on, let them know.”

Clary looked over to Luke, “I’m… I’m Envy.”

“What?” Fledgeling looked shock, “for real? That’s so… Huh, it’s such a small world.”

“Why do you keep talking like that?” Clary turned to Fledgeling, “like you know me? Because you don’t, I have no clue wh-” She stopped when the form of the boy changed ever so slightly and he slipped a pair of glassed on.

“Hi,” Simon waved, giving an apologetic smile.

“You’re Fledgeling! Jesus, what else? Is my mom secretly Warlock or something?”

“No, that one’s funnier,” Izzy commented, “if you’re shocked by Simon, oh boy, Warlock will shake you when you actually find out how we know about him.”

“We know Warlock?” Jace cocked his head, “it’s not dad, is it?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Izzy sighed, “but… I guess you can say, he’s pretty close to Alec.”

“ALEC’S DATING WARLOCK?” Jace and Clary reacted at the same time.

Izzy hid a smile, “you can’t let him know.”

“Anyway,” Raphael stepped forward, “I’m Raphael, better known as Encanto.”

Luke nodded, “and obviously, I’m Alpha.”

“This is a really nice place,” Lydia commented, Izzy looked to her and noticed how one of her hands was practically locked onto Jonas’s, “I… I really want to meet Warlock, apologise for everything and thank him for telling the truth about John.”

”He’ll be here shortly,” Raphael sighed, leaning on the desk, “he had to make up an excuse to… Well, your brother,” he looked to Izzy, “I believe he’s already on his way.”

“Speak of the devil,” Luke whispered just before the door to the lab opened and Magnus came rushing into the room.

“Sorry, I had a… Yeah,” Magnus smiled as he walked into the room.

”Morning sex go on longer than planned?” Raphael joked, but upon on seeing Magnus’s expression his grin dropped, “oh my God, did you actually?”

“At least we know how Alec takes out his anger, Jace whispered to Izzy and Clary who let both let out a loud snort, then Jace looked up, “wait, that’s not funny, that’s my brother.”

“Family reunion, huh?” Magnus put on a smile, “I’d like to clarify, it wasn’t sex. It was just… Sex things. But hi,” he stepped forward and held out his hand, “I’m Magnus - as you know - also known as Warlock.”

Clary eyed Magnus’s hand with a raised eyebrow, “I’m not touching your hand when you’ve just said about doing ‘sex stuff’ with Alec.”

Magnus let out a small laugh and pulled his hand back, “of course.”

Lydia stepped forward, “thank you, Warlock, Magnus, whatever… For what you’ve done,” she smiled, “I didn’t know John was a hero that day.”

Magnus smiled, “you must be The Tempest, you look… Far sweeter when you’re not head to toe in purple.”

“I can’t believe Alec is dating Warlock,” Jace mumbled out of the blue.

“Was it hot?” Jonas asked, trying to stifle a laugh as he did so, this only earned him a thump on the chest from Lydia.

“Yes,” Magnus answered honestly, “it was. Now, how about we talk about important issues. Does your brother know about your powers?”

”Oh yeah,” Izzy nodded, “he’s super jealous. Poor boy,” she tutted and turned to Jace, “right? He’s been a little… Hotheaded about the entire thing.”

Jonas began to laugh again, this time getting a glare from Jace.

“Is he alright?” Maia looked over to Jonas.

“Sorry, I was thinking about Alec doing sexual stuff,” he quickly excused himself (Izzy knew that was a lie, he was having a fun time knowing that Warlock and Flamethrower were dating in real life).

“So,” Magnus sighed, “does Alec know you’re joining us?”

“Nope,” Izzy crossed her arms, “no idea.”

Magnus nodded, “you can’t let him know who I am,” he sighed, “I want to tell him but… I know he finds it… Difficult.”

”You mean, he’d get angry,” Jonas added, “because, yeah, he really would. He’s a little bit temperamental.” 

“A little bit?” Clary scoffed with a raise of her eyebrows.

“He doesn’t like Warlock anyway,” Jace shrugged, “like he just... Has some weird thing about him.”

“Well, charming,” Magnus tutted, “I guess I’ll have to change his mind.”

“Yeah good luck with that,” Lydia whispered.

“He’s stuck in his ways,” Izzy sighed, “but… anyway, back to the current topic. Are we all on the good side now?” 

“In all honesty,” Warlock spoke before any others could, “your loyalty should be tested before we claim you to be heroes. You could be… Well, plotting. In fact I’m not so sure how we became to so quick to trust you.”

“We saved everyone at the bank,” Jace stepped forward, ready to fight Magnus by the look of things, “before you guys even got there, these three,” he gestured to Izzy, Clary and Jonas, “they saved the innocent customers who could have been killed by that fire - I mean if it wasn’t for Jonas-”

“Ah!” Jonas suddenly stopped Jace, wondering how he could cover for it, “if… If it wasn’t for me telling Izzy to try harder with her powers, the uh- the fire wouldn’t have been put out.”

“Yeah!” Izzy clapped her hands together with a grin, “Jonas is a genius.”

Lydia wrapped an arm around Jonas’s shoulders, “so I’d like to volunteer Jonas as a scientific dork.”

“Role already taken,” Maia tutted from behind the desk, “sorry,” she shrugged.

“I can be on the frontline,” Jonas smiled, “I’m like, fully trained in self-defense.”

“Not against super powers,” Lydia giggled, patting his back, “you’d be safer behind the desk.”

Izzy saw a look of protest in Jonas’s eyes, but he then looked away, “yeah. Fine, okay.”

“Don’t be out of the honeymoon period so soon,” Izzy taunted, stepping between Jonas and Lydia, “Jonas, perhaps it’s wise. I mean, what would you do out there?”

“Wow,” Jonas narrowed his eyes at Izzy, “and you were the one throwing a hissyfit when you were told not to fight,” he hissed at her before turning around and leaving the room - heading toward the hall they had walked down. 

Izzy was about to follow him but she was stopped by Clary, “I’ll go.”

* * * * *

“Jonas, Jonas!” Clary ran down the hall and grabbed the boy.

Jonas turned around, he didn’t look angry, he looked upset, “I… I should tell her, I can’t sit behind a desk hiding the truth - I’m not Caitlin Snow!”

“You were the one who opted to hide,” Clary mentioned briefly, “what if you sit by for a while - but if it seems to get serious, if you feel like we’re in danger… Come to the rescue.”

Jonas pulled a face, “what if Lydia gets hurt again?”

“Jonas,” Clary crossed her arms, “once again, you were the one who decided this. You don’t want Lydia to know, so-”

“So I come up with a disguise! I can be Hannah Montana!”

“This is the worst idea.”

“No it’s not, Hannah Montana was one of the most popular Disney shows - she kept her identity secret for ages.”

“You can try,” she shrugged, “what would your identities name be? Frosty the Snowman?”

“Funny,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “how about Jack Frost? Cliche sure, but… It makes sense.”

“Fine, and you need to talk to Maia in private about getting you a disguise that hides your identity - much like Warlock’s costume. I mean it’s sure easy to unmask him but nobody ever has.”

Jonas nodded, “and get Maia to cover for me when you guys are out.”

“Exactly,” 

“If you think this is a good idea...”

“I’m certain.”

“Right.”

* * * * *

Alec had gone back to sleep after Magnus left, wrapping the entire duvet around himself. It was warm and comfortable - but not like it had been with Magnus. The scent of Magnus was perfect though, as perfect as Magnus himself. The scent alone made him feel far better about everything that was happening to him, he was getting frustrated with everyone and everything, but then he’d think of Magnus and his world was suddenly miles better than it was before. 

He smiled and buried his head into the pillow, was it too soon to be falling in love? 

Who cares if it was? Certainly not Alec. Magnus was absolute perfection. Perfection was easy to fall in love with. Of course the thoughts had been occupying his mind as he drifted off into sleep again.

Warm and comfortable.

He dreamt of Magnus, lying next to him like he had done so last night.

_”You’re gorgeous Alexander,” he whispered._

_“Thank you,” Alec had replied._

_“You’re really hot.”_

_“Thanks.”_

_“No Alec, I mean you’re… Burning hot,” Magnus had flinched back, he brought his hand up between them. His hand was red raw, burnt. Magnus began to scream._

_”Ma-Magnus!”_

_”You burnt me! What the fuck?”_

_”No! No, Magnus I didn’t m-mean too!”_

_“You’re a monster, you’re that devil, Flamethrower, aren’t you?”_

_”Magnus please!”_

_“Get out!” Magnus screamed, cradling his own hand._

_”Magnus!”_

“Magnus!” Alec shot up, clutching the sheets and sweating - whether it was because of the nightmare or because of his own body temperature being hotter than it should have been. It was light outside, of course, it had been so when he had fallen asleep again. But according to the clock he had been asleep for over an hour, even when it only felt like five seconds. 

That’s all it took. Five seconds could ruin it all. 

He began to whimper, he wanted Magnus. He wanted his piece of perfection. But he didn’t, not at that minute. Magnus was off doing something else. 

The entire idea of possibly ruining Magnus broke Alec. He struggled to breather as he remembered the dream. He needed Magnus, he needed the help. The warmth. He threw the duvets off of the bed in an attempt to feel normal again. 

He jumped off of the bed and ran to examine himself in the mirror. He looked like an ordinary young man in his boxers. But he wasn’t ordinary. He was dangerous. The definition of danger.

He picked up his clothes that had been discarded on the floor after a hands-on make out session with Magnus and quickly pulled them on. He wouldn’t leave the apartment, he needed Magnus to come back. He made his way to Magnus’s kitchen and with shaking hands reached for a glass. He gripped it and filled it up with cold water from the tap. He needed cold water - perhaps it would literally put out the fire inside of him. When the water reached his lips it was warm. 

Out of instinct he threw the glass to the floor, and then realised that was not his property to break. His breathing became even quicker than it had been before, he let out a frustrated scream and fell to his knees. It seemed stupid, but the entire thing just hurt him, and he was brought to tears by it all. He let out something close to a sob. He balled his hands into fists and hit them against the ground - well against the broken glass. The pain of his hands was not as bad as the panic inside of him. He continued crying, nobody was there to hear him. 

He heard the door to the apartment unlock but he couldn’t stop the crying, even if he wanted to.

“Alexander?” He heard a rush of footsteps and then just managed to get a glimpse of feet run past him.

Somebody crouched down beside him and lifted him slightly from the position he was in.

“Alexander, it’s me, Magnus.”

Alec only continued to cry.

“Are you okay for me to hold you?” Magnus checked.

Alec’s mind was a flurry of panic and in the next moment he began to nod. Magnus moved him around and cradled him slightly. 

“M-Magnus,” Alec stumbled over the name, and clenched his fists, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Magnus hushed him, “don’t be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I broke your g-glass, I got blood over the… I’m a te-terrible person.” 

Alec felt his arms being lifted, Magnus must have been examining the wounds.

“Just take a breath, Alexander, breathe slowly.”

Alec did as ordered and managed to calm his erratic breathing eventually. Then the pain is in his hands finally appeared, far sharper than before. He let out a groan of pain but was then distracted when Magnus pressed a kiss against his cheek.

“I’m going to clean up your wounds and then bandage your hands, okay?”

Alec nodded.

“Okay, I need you to be calm throughout this, okay?”

Another nod.

“How did this happen?” Magnus spoke in a soft tone, soothing for Alec.

“I… I started panicking. I hurt you in my dream, badly, and I started freaking out about that… Then I- I just couldn’t st-stop being angry. I was scared and pa-panicking. I couldn’t breathe.”

Alec missed the blue sparks that came from Magnus’s hands to clear the glass from the wounds.

* * * * *

Jonas had been stood outside since the comments about him not helping had been made, just thinking about how he’d be able to pass with the idea of being ‘Jack Frost’ in secret. He looked up when Lydia came out of the lab, her arms crossed.

“I’m sorry,” she offered, stepping closer to him.

”It’s okay,” he replied with a chuckle, “I honestly, shouldn’t have reacted like that. It was over dramatic.”

“Perhaps I like you being dramatic,” Lydia laughed softly, she reached forward and grabbed Jonas’s hand, “now, I believe we have a date at my place.”

“Right,” Jonas nodded, he held up his hand, “I just have to… Ask Jace something first,” he smiled, “wait here!” 

Jonas ran into the lab, looking back briefly to check Lydia didn’t follow him inside.

“I’ll let you all know my plan, how I can help you. You’ll be getting assistance from a masked hero that goes by the name Jack Frost, and that will be me.”

“Jack Frost, how quaint,” Encanto chuckled, “I guess we’ll be seeing you on the battlefield.”

Jonas nodded, “thank you for keeping this secret,” he ran out again to Lydia who was waiting with her arms still crossed, “you cold?” 

Lydia nodded and rushed forward to wrap her arms around Jonas, “you can be my radiator.”

“I’m not going to be very good at that,” Jonas smiled to her, hoping he might be able to keep her warm even if he himself was cold. They ended up walking back to Lydia’s - eventually managing to find their way. Jonas had one arm around Lydia’s shoulders, holding her close. 

Finally they were back at Lydia’s apartment, Batman leaping up joyfully as soon as the door unlocked. Jonas rushed to pick up the small Pomeranian, grinning as e turned to Lydia.

“Batman is my favourite.”

“Oh, wow,” she tutted - turning away in faux disappointment. 

“Second favourite,” Jonas corrected himself, moving forward and placing a kiss on Lydia’s cheek. Lydia smiled again as Jonas used on hand to pull her closer, “now, since I know about your past - you know John and stuff, I think it’s time I told you about my past,” he moved over to the sofa and took a seat.

Once Lydia sat next to him, he took a deep breath. Lydia placed a hand over his, “you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“I do, I want to tell somebody. Only one other person knows about it all, I want you to know.”

“Okay, but if it gets too tough.”

Jonas flashed her a smile, “I’ll start from the beginning - well the first one that’s important for you to know. My first time. I was fifteen and I had met this guy at a coffee shop, his name was Oliver. I was flustered when I met him, he was beautiful. Stunning. So we hit it off straight away, went on several dates at the same coffee shop. He had told me he was twenty and I thought that it was awesome. The idea of having an older boyfriend just thrilled me with excitement. We had sex about two months into our relationship, and it was good, he was calm and gentle. And we had done it around three times by the time we had been dating for four months. One day I was grabbing money from his wallet, I was going to tell him, I wasn’t just going to take it. But I noticed something odd on his ID. It said he was born thirteen years before I was. He was twenty-eight, not twenty. I confronted him about it when he came back into the room and he got… Pretty angry.”

Jonas saw Lydia’s expression change, he cleared his throat.

“He turned me around, forced my pants down and… After he, ‘punished’ me. I left straight away. I remember feeling broken, dirty, disgusting. After him I had stayed away from any form of relationship for a short while, I lost my friends because I wouldn’t speak to them. In my Senior year I finally made another connection, she was called Louisa. She was relatively quiet around school but she still had plenty of friends. We started out slow, cuddling, kissing. Then one day our kissing got heated and she wanted to go further, she kept trying but… I couldn’t stop thinking about Oliver, what he had done and I… I didn’t want it.”

”Fair enough.”

“Right?” Jonas scoffed and then let out a sour laugh, “she went home. I went to school the next day and people started… Shouting at me, pushing me into lockers. They called me a rapist.”

”What?”

”Louisa had told everyone she spoke to that I raped her, nobody told the proper authorities. But I was a cause for concern, the teachers didn’t even treat me like a human. So, I left. I moved to Ohio. That’s where I met my friend Winn. I thought Ohio would be the end of my bad luck streak.”

“Was it?”

Jonas shook his head, “I think, it just got worse. I met another girl a few months into my stay at Ohio, Poppy. Cute name, cute girl, cute personality. She seemed like the happiest person I had ever met. We cuddled, we both agreed we didn’t want sex. There was this night where we had been kissing and cuddling, just going gentle. She was overjoyed, she seemed it anyway. She told me that she was so glad that I was there, that it had been the best night of her life. I thought of course - that was because we had had such fun. We fell asleep quickly after that, and I looked forward to waking up in the morning and smothering her in sweet kisses.”

He paused, and then looked up at Lydia who had a face as though she could think of what was going to happen next.

“She had two younger sisters and a younger brother, her father was doing her best to provide for them but he found it difficult, being a single parent. Even with struggles, they loved each other.”

Lydia’s face turned into an expression of confusion after a moment.

“Imagine, waking up at three in the morning to a loud gunshot in the house. Your girlfriend not by your side. You get up to find her but before you even reach the door you hear her father cry out. Then it’s all a blur and the next thing you know, you’re in the bathroom beside her father, staring down in disbelief at her lifeless body. Her siblings stop by the door having no clue about what’s going on, and… you have to watch as they finally realise.”

There was a brief pause of solemn silence.

“I took… I took a few days off school, I couldn’t bring myself to go in and face the other students. They all knew I was there that night, I was terrified they’d blame me. I mean, her father knew it wasn’t my fault, he said she had been in a bad state for a while. But I was still so scared. I eventually went in two weeks later, it was like they were trying to act normal but… It was still different. Winn took me in of course. Made sure I was eating during our lunch break, since on the first day I barely even blinked. I was so unfocused.”

“Jonas... I’m so sorry.”

“I dated several people between her and the last guy… But I always felt so numb. I had a one night fling with Winn - which was… Well he was curious and I felt like I needed a connection, we kissed but when we were cuddling we decided against it. But we’ve been supporting each other ever since, I… I never actually told him about the last one.”

“Oh?”

“Isaac. He wasn’t exactly kind to begin with but I found him so… Interesting. We slept together first, and I thought it was rough but it made me forget about my past - even… Even the Oliver thing. Then we started some kind of relationship, but it turned out to be focused on sex and… And he’d grab me, squeezed my arms so tight that I’d bruise. It started off like that, but when I fought back, he fought harder. Threw me against a wall, punched me, strangled me. He’d do anything to me. It… It all brought back the memories of Oliver. I’d wear long sleeve shirts all the time, because I didn’t want anyone to see the bruises. They didn’t really show up on my face so I was lucky… But I did have to buy turtlenecks in bulk,” he let out a weak laugh, “he was... he didn’t want to let me go, I was his punching bag. I left Ohio straight away, and came here. I told Winn it was because I got a new job here and he was eager for me to go out and continue my life. I escaped Isaac, and… I’ve never been happier.”

Lydia mirrored the smile that grew on Jonas’s face.

“And then, I got a job as a local delivery boy, post office to store. I met a… Gorgeous girl who named a dog after a superhero, and she herself is in fact a superhero and I couldn’t be luckier. Promise you won’t throw this entire thing back in my face?”

“Never,” Lydia smiled, “I have a Pomeranian named Batman, do I seem like I’d ever do anything to hurt someone who might fall in love with me? Someone who I might fall in love with?” Lydia rested her head on Jonas’s shoulder, “never in a million years.”

“Thank you,” he smiled over to her, “I… I trust you.”

“I trust you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Breaking Hearts  
> Secret Identites have never been a worse idea.  
> (There's also cuddles, kisses, and some strange behaviour)


	10. Breaking Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relationships are tested and secrets are to blame, a complicated (not quite) love triangle forms except it's even more complicated than any YA novel you've read, probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alli, I'm really sorry. So very sorry. You might cry.

Magnus sighed, Alec was asleep in his arms. Magnus had managed to clean up the mess whilst Alec sought comfort on the sofas. Of course he was shocked that Magnus had got it done so quickly but Magnus had managed to convince him that he had simply slept through the cleaning. Magnus knew it was a bad sport keeping a secret from Alec but if Alec didn’t like Warlock it could break the relationship that they were developing and Magnus wasn’t ready for that.

He couldn’t even tell Jonas was a bad idea it was to keep his powers from Lydia since he was doing it himself. Then again, Lydia was The Tempest, she had her own powers. Alec was an innocent bystander to the superheroes, he didn’t need to be involved.

Magnus glanced down at the sleeping man and smiled, “so gorgeous,” he whispered, “beautiful.”

Alec began to mumble in his sleep and Magnus let out a laugh as he watched him rest, he pressed a kiss on Alec’s forehead and looked down at his bandage hands.

“My poor boy,” he ran a hand down Alec’s arm and stopped as he reached the bandage, “it’s foolish, to be this smitten by someone so soon.”

Alec mumbled again, making Magnus continue to smile. 

“You’re so precious when you sleep, you’re precious all the time to be honest.”

“Magnus.”

Magnus chuckled quietly when Alec’s eyes opened, “awaken my Sleeping Beauty.”

“Mm,” Alec shuffled and turned, “how long have you been awake?”

“I haven’t slept, you haven’t been out that long,” Magnus admitted, “are you feeling better?”

“A little bit,” Alec nodded, “my hands hurt less.”

”Yeah?”

”Yeah.”

“That’s good.”

”Although, they might just be numb,” Alec cocked his head to the side, “oh well. Thank you for helping me out.”

“Anything. You’re my boyfriend now, of course I’m going to help you if you’re hurt.”

Alec let out an exhausted sounding chuckle, “I’m so glad I found you.”

”I’m glad you did too.”

He kissed Alec’s forehead and thought about what the possible outcomes of him revealing his identity to Alec could be. He didn’t want to ruin anything, so… He decided he’d stay quiet. He couldn’t risk anything. 

* * * * * 

A day or so passed since the two teams decided to join together, of course nobody mentioned it to Alec. It was most likely a given after the bank incident. Alec had returned home one night but he barely spoke to Izzy and Jace, but when he did - it never sounded real.

Everything had been… Mundane, in a way. No exciting event had occurred which meant they could all continue in their own lives. Which meant that they’d go on dates. Jonas and Lydia went to watch the newest Star Wars movie together. Magnus had taken Alec out to an expensive restaurant, when Izzy and Jace found out they fought themselves to keep quiet about the entire Flamethrower situation. Jace had spent his time playing video games or figuring out what extent his powers could go to.

Izzy and Clary had spent their time relaxing together, sat comfortably watching television.

Which was exactly what they were doing when a breaking news segment showed up on the television. People were beginning to act strange and violent to each other, their eyes had turned white and it was as though something had just switched in them. 

“The Master guy?” Clary groaned.

”And Mistress…” Izzy whispered, “there’s no way she can take down the entire team.”

”Plus Jack Frost,” Clary reminded with a wink, “so what do we do?”

”We go to the lab,” Jace ran into the room, already in his ‘Rush’ outfit, “let’s go.”

He picked up both the girls and within the next moment they were at the labs, he passed them their clothes as soon as they were on their own feet.

”I wasn’t going to dress you, I can’t be that kind of guy,” he shrugged and looked around with a smile as the others had already gathered.

“Master and Mistress,” Jonas began, taking a seat next to Maia with a smile, “Master has the ability to render you with no control. As Izzy found out at the bank. Whilst, Mistress has the ability to render you powerless, as… Clary and Izzy found out… Also at the bank,” he paused and looked to Maia, “so some precautions need to be taken.”

”Such as?”

”Well, she’s like a vampire for a start.”

“Vampire abilities don’t work on other vampire kinds,” Raphael stated, “we were training once before and we found out that I can’t use Encanto on Simon. Most likely because he’s a vampire kind as well. So whatever Mistress has, she can’t use on us.”

“You two need to keep her distracted then,” Jonas leaned back.

Maia nodded, “whilst these lot go for Master, now what happened last time?”

”I knocked him out for a split second and he lost control of the workers, then I looked into his eyes and… He gained control of me.”

“Fantastic, don’ look into the Master’s eyes then.”

“And suppose Flamethrower pops up with them? Who’ll go after him?”

”I will,” Izzy quickly volunteered, “his powers are ineffective when he’s wet.”

“Then your powers shall come to good use, Mermaid,” Maia grinned, “just all do your best, stay focused. Good luck out there.”

”And come back alive,” Jonas added, glancing to Lydia, “please.”

“Will do,” she winked to him.

Once Izzy and Clary were in their outfits, they all left for the destination of Master and Mistress. It was close to the lab so there was no need to rush (Jace was more than proud of himself when he made the self-referencing joked, whilst others only groaned). When they were there, they saw the carnage that had ensued thanks to The Master’s cruel mind. At the end of a long street full of people fighting one another or damaging property were a man and woman, both dressed his pure white, obviously laughing about the carnage.

“That’s them,” Izzy readied herself, “but I don’t see Flamethrower,” she looked over to Magnus and asked a question as a worried sister, “Magnus… Alec’s going to be okay, right? Was he with you before you left.”

”Yes,” Magnus smiled to her sweetly, “he’ll be okay he was watching TV when I left, but I don’t think you should be worrying about him at a time like this.”

She turned away and whispered, “I think I should.”

As the team lined up, the fighting in the street ceased and all of the Master’s followers turned to them. A sea of white eyes staring at the team and after a brief moment of silence, they began to run forward as though to attack the team.

Izzy rushed back whilst other members of the team tried to dodge their way through the people. They couldn’t hurt innocent victims. Izzy just needed to catch sight of her brother. Several of the followers had managed to grab hold of members of the team and seemed to have super-human strength (obviously gifted to them from the control of the Master). 

Izzy caught sight of Lydia’s wrists being grabbed by one of the followers and before she could do anything to help. Ice formed around the followers feet up to his waist, and then a man in a mask and an outfit Izzy hadn’t seen before showed up by her side. Of course she was aware of who it was behind the mask, but for Lydia’s sake she had to be clueless.

His outfit was a mix of Light blue and several areas of black, before Izzy could make a comment on the fashion choice, he had rushed into the crowd, building up walls of ice to stop the followers from grabbing him. He stopped by Lydia and the follow who still had a hold of her and grabbed onto the wrists. The follower’s skin went blue and his grip on Lydia dropped. 

She pulled back and smiled to the masked stranger.

”Thank you.”

Izzy saw him nod and then crouch down to the ground, he said something to Lydia but Izzy couldn’t tell what it was. Then he placed his hand on the ground and it froze over, creating an ice rink across the street. This caused many of the followers to fall down and whilst that happened, the team made a rush for Master and Mistress. 

“What are you doing here?” A voice caught Izzy off guard, she spun around and saw Alec in his Flamethrower outfit, “get away, so that you’re not hurt.”

”You still care about me?” She laughed bitterly, “please, I can fight my battles.”

“Right,” he stepped forward, throwing out his arms and creating flames around his hands, “then lets fight.”

”Of course,” she slowly took a step back as though stepping out of he battle but a thought occurred to her suddenly, “hey Alec! Remember when you were 12, we went ice skating… And you couldn’t stay up for more than five seconds.”

The man cocked his head.

Izzy flashed a smile and then turned and ran towards the iced over street, without thinking Alec chased her. Once on the ice Izzy allowed herself to skid across the ice. Eventually coming to a stop when she came to a wall of ice that Jonas had created. She watched with joy as Alec stepped onto the ice and slipped instantly, the flames around his hands disappeared and he tried to push himself up multiple times but only slipped again.

”I guess you should have invested in those ice skating lessons!” She yelled, letting out a shrill giggle.

Alec looked up and growled loud enough for Izzy to hear. The flames reappeared over his hands and the ice beneath him melted, “one flaw in your plan there Iz.”

As the ice around Alec began to melt, Izzy began to rush away again, skidding on the ice when there was a clear path for her. She came to another stop when she tripped over one of the fallen followers. She fell forward and only just managed to catch herself with her hands. Her face had collided briefly with the ground and she instantly felt the blood begin to drip from her nose.

She turned and looked at Alec who had somewhat paused for a moment, before continuing to walk towards her.

”I didn’t want to do this,” she said as she slowly pushed herself onto her feet, “but alright…”

She threw her arms forward and a surge of water hit Alec directly in the chest. He fell back and glared over at Izzy. She then flicked her hand out again and covered Alec in a wave of water. 

“I’m so sorry,” she called back, jumping back onto her feet and rushing toward the rest of the team. As planned, Encanto and Fledgeling were focused on Mistress. The others were trying to focus on Master but more of his followers had manage to take them down from behind. 

She didn’t expect to be tackled to the ground by her own brother seconds later. She grunted as she hit the ground and pushed out as Alec tried to pin her down, “you should get out before you really get hurt Izzy.”

“I only need to worry about you hurting me!” She snapped, lifting up her knee and managing to strike Alec between his legs. Every man’s weak spot. 

Alec yelped but didn’t loosen his grip, “I’m trying to protect you!”

“You’re not doing a very good job of it!”

Alec sat up, loosening his grip slightly. “I’ve tried so hard, Izzy. It’s not my fault if you all0”

”You turned into an absolute dick!” 

Alec laughed darkly, “perhaps because you lot are insufferable idiots that want to be good guys.”

“And you want to be a villain?”

”Why?”

”Because it’s so much more fun,” he stood up, and walked away from Izzy. Closer to the Master and the ongoing fight.

”Ah, excellent. Flamethrower has finally decided to join us. How pleasing,” The Master called down.

Izzy pushed herself up, “a powerless Flamethrower,” she added, “no fire burns when it’s wet.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s of no use,” Master grinned, staring into Flamethrowers eyes. Then Flamethrower turned and ran towards Izzy, she caught sight of his white eyes and managed to duck out of the way before he could take her down again.

She thought for a moment, surely her hydrokinetic manipulation came to more use than just shooting out water like a water gun. She put her mind to work quickly and threw out one hand, picturing a whip made of water. 

She opened her eyes and glanced down beside her, just as she pictured, in her hand was a whip mater purely of water. She was gripping the handle and the tail of the whip fell to the floor.

The controlled Alec didn’t seem to care, he approached Izzy and Izzy pulled her arm back as though she was about to whip out for Alec but instead she snapped it to the side and caught the Master’s ankles with the end of the whip. A sharp tug pulled him to the ground. She held out her other hand and shot a burst of water towards Alec, pushing him further back. The whip released the Master’s ankles and he stood up again with easy, she snapped the whip again, this time at his head. Blurring his focus. Alec’s eyes turned back to normal,and the followers in the street all looked around in a daze, wondering what the hell was going on and why there were patches of ice on the ground. The followers attacking the team all stepped back and looked around in awe until Warlock shouted for them all to get away as soon as possible.

Mistress rushed to the Master and glared at the team around them, “this won’t be the last time,” she hissed before herself and Master disappeared. Simon wanted to follow them but Raphael held him back. They turned to Flamethrower who was stood near Izzy, unsure of what to do.

Izzy looked up to the team, Alpha looked just about ready to apprehend Flamethrower but she couldn’t do that. They wouldn’t just throw him in the cell and be done with it. Sure, they wouldn’t take off his mask, just to preserve his identity. But they’d all know who Flamethrower was when Magnus’s boyfriend suddenly disappears.

“Salir de la mierda de aqui,” she hissed to him knowing full well he knew what it meant. She used to shout it at him when he came into her room without knocking or when she was angry with him, but right now - even though he probably could have killed her moments before, she was doing it to protect him. And to protect Magnus. 

He turned and ran as instructed, Izzy looked up to the team who were helping each other up, the only one who was looking her way was Warlock. She couldn’t see his face but she knew he was holding a look of disappointment. He had watched her let Flamethrower run free.

He moved over to her and leaned in close, “what did you do that for? You let him run free?”

”D-did I?” She falsely stuttered, “oh God,” she slapped her head as though punishing herself, “I looked into Master’s eyes just before they left. He must have made me do that.”

Warlock let out a sigh of relief, “thank God, I thought you had changed your mind about being a good person.”

“Never,” Izzy replied “I will do anything for the ones I love. Anything.”

* * * * *

“Who are you?” Lydia posed the question to the stranger who had saved her from the Master’s followers.

“Well, I’m Jack Frost,” the man replied with a smile and a wink, Lydia noticed just how blue his eyes were at that moment, “at least that’s my alias.”

“Jack Frost,” Rush approached them, crossing his arms, “cute name. Say Jack, may I talk to you for a moment.”

“Uh, sure?”

Lydia watched as Jace led the man away from her momentarily, she thought about him. In the few moments she had seen him, he reminded her of John. What if it was John? But that was impossible, he died, they had a funeral. But it matched, the height, the eyes, the voice.

It had to be.

Why else would someone have been so keen to save her.

She looked away briefly, if this truly was John… Then she’d have to make a choice. John or Jonas? Why did all men in her life have to begin with the letter J? That just made it confusing, John, Jonas, Jack Frost… Was she really counting Jack Frost as a man in her life?

Jonas would be devastated. That had just started their relationship and in walks Jack Frost, who Lydia was certain was her dead ex-fiance. Former dead. She closed her eyes and thought what Jonas’s reaction would be and the thought was… Heartbreaking. He had been through so much in the past and she promised not to hurt him, so there was no way she could say ‘hey I’m breaking up with you because I’m pretty sure this new super hero guy is my dead fiance!’ She’d just be throwing Jonas away instantly. No more cute bursts of flirting when he’s delivering a new package of masks. No playful chatter. 

She could fall in love with Jonas.

But she was already in love with John, she had never stopped loving him.

“I’ve got to go,” Jack Frost approached Lydia again and flashed a smile - Lydia wasn’t hallucinating, that smile was just like John’s, “I hope I’ll be seeing you soon,” he playfully bowed to her and then disappeared with a gust of wind. She knew Jace must have assisted him to wherever he was going. 

She looked to the ground and continue to think about John, about Jonas, and about this mysterious Jack Frost guy. The thoughts took over the entire journey back to the labs, she couldn’t tell Jonas could she? He was so innocent and sweet, and there was no way she could lead him on.

At the lab, Maia and Jonas were sat at the desk smiling and finishing off a conversation that seemed like it may have lasted a while.

”You’re all back alive!”

”Barely,” Lydia mumbled, “if Jack Frost hadn’t stepped in… I’m pretty sure I’d be dead.”

”Jack Frost?” Jonas cocked his head, “this sounds interesting, who’s that?”

”Some guy with ice powers,” Jace waved a hand.

”I…” Lydia couldn’t say it in front of everyone, they’d laugh, “Jonas can I talk to you quickly?”

“Of course,” he continued to smile and followed her into a secluded area.

She couldn’t look him in the eye, the entire event that took place was still running through her head, “I… I really… I like you Jonas, you know that.” She began, pausing to clear her throat, “but I think… Look. You know, that if John Monteverde came into my life again, I’d need him back. He was my world.”

“I know,” Jonas nodded slowly, trying to catch Lydia’s eyes but she continued to avoid them.

“He’s back Jonas.”

Finally, she looked into his eyes and saw the heartbreak within them.

“I know it,” she continued, “when Jack Frost saved me today… I knew it was him and… I need to find him, I need to be with him. I have to go, I’m so sorry.” 

She ran quickly, she couldn’t bare to watch Jonas’s heart break once again, not days after she had promised never to hurt him.

* * * * *

Jace watched as Lydia ran past them and straight out of the labs, he turned back as Jonas slowly made his way back into the room.

“Did you tell her?” He asked, “because I was not expecting that reaction.”

”No,” Jonas shook his head, staring at the ground, “she… She broke up with me,” he paused and looked Jace in the eye, “for me.”

“What?”

”She said that her dead ex-fiance is Jack Frost and she knows it, and… Then she broke up with me.”

“You don’t seem too shaken by it,” Izzy commented cautiously.

“Oh I am very shaken, trust me. She thinks I’m her dead fiance!” He let out a yell and Jace noticed how his eyes then began to tear up, “it’s going to break her heart when she knows it’s only me.”

“You should have told her,” Warlock sighed, “it’s your own fault.”

”Oh like you’ve told your boyfriend that you’re Warlock,” Izzy defended Jonas suddenly, “I mean, don’t do it though, you’ll break Alec. Jonas is right, if he tells Lydia that her dead fiance isn’t alive, she’ll be crushed.”

”Doesn’t she deserve it,” Jace then added, “she just crushed Jonas because she was speculating that her fiance is still alive.”

”I don’t care about how I feel,” Jonas whispered, “I care about how she feels.”

“What, so you’re going to pretend to be her fiance?”

Jonas hesitated and then shrugged, “maybe.”

”No, no, nope, don’t do it,” Luke crossed his arms, “tell her the truth.”

Jace walked over to Jonas and set his hands on the man’s shoulders, “you know what, do what you feel is right. What would that be?”

”At this current moment, the right thing for me is to go home and eat ice cream.”

”That’s the spirit,” Jace cheered, “hey that must be great, your ice cream will never melt!”

Jonas rolled his eyes, tucked his hands into his pockets and walked away. Jace frowned and glanced over to Izzy and Clary, “so… That’s the shortest relationship I’ve known of.”

”I know of a shorter one,” Simon added and began to chuckle, “Clary dated our friend Maureen for like twenty minutes before they decided to break up. It was hilarious.”

“Shut up,” Clary jokingly yelled to Simon. 

Luke groaned and rubbed his forehead, “does nobody else think that secrets are only overcomplicating things? I’m serious, Magnus, you are telling your boyfriend that you’re Warlock.”

“No,” Izzy shook her head, “he’ll break up with Magnus instantly! Our brother doesn’t like Warlock at all.”

”If he likes Magnus enough he’ll look past it.”

“Then you’re telling my mother that you’re Alpha,” Clary crossed her arms and glared at Luke.

Luke looked to the ground, “okay, perhaps you have a point there.”

“Even those we love the most can fear us when we change,” Simon whispered.

Luke nodded and looked over to Magnus who was leaning against the desk with a confused expression, “do what you must, but don’t let it get complicated.”

* * * * *

Magnus arrived back to the apartment, expecting to see Alec resting on the sofa with a bowl of chips or some other food. But when he looked around the apartment… There was nobody, nothing.

“Alexander?” 

Perhaps the boy was simply sleeping the day away again, at this rate he was bound to get bedsores. Magnus wondered through the apartment but in each room, in each area, there was nobody. He frowned and picked up his phone, instantly dialling Alec’s number. It rang, but then he heard the muffled ringtone coming from the bedroom. He ran into the room again, under one of the pillows was Alec’s phone. 

Well that was… Odd.

He suddenly remembered Isabelle’s worry for her brother, and that made him panic. Why would Alec ever leave the apartment without his phone? Sure he’d probably go home to see his family, but he would have at least taken his phone with him. 

Magnus began to grow concerned, he rushed out of the room and searched again throughout the house.

”Alec! Alexander!” 

Panic ensued, he rushed to the door and opened it prepared to run out and search everywhere and anywhere, but instead he ran straight into Alec.

“Alec!” He jumped back, began to grin and then surged forward to wrap his arms around Alec, “you’re here! You’re okay!”

“Y-yeah,” Alec nodded slowly, “I… I was just sorting something out with Izzy.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow, he knew for a fact that was a lie, he had been with Izzy since he left the apartment. There was no way that Alec had been with her at all. 

“Right,” he nodded and let Alec into the apartment, he paused for a moment with his own thoughts. What was Alec keeping from him? He let out a sigh, “and I thought I was the only one keeping secrets.”

“Hm?” Alec turned around having heard the murmur.

”Nothing, darling,” Magnus lied as he followed Alec into the apartment, “nothing at all.”

Alec grinned and pulled Magnus in for a kiss when they were close enough, “so, can I cover you in kisses?”

”If you wish,” Magnus shrugged, after the acceptance Alec tugged off Magnus’s shirt and began to place kisses over the man’s chest. It didn’t take Magnus’s mind off of the secret that was being kept, both his own and Alec’s. He continued to think about what Alec could possibly be hiding, but he couldn’t call him out on the lie - not without telling his own truth. 

“Are you okay?” Alec paused, briefly, standing at full height again.

”Yes, just… Thinking about things.”

Alec flashed him a smile, “forget about everything else Magnus, think about this,” he slowly went down onto his knees and placed kisses just above the waistband of Magnus’s jeans. Magnus closed his eyes and smiled to himself as Alec slowly unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Perhaps forgiveness was in order, could he be persuaded to forget the lie just by a simple sexual act?

When he felt his pants drop to his ankle, he thought ‘maybe, maybe I can forgive Alec for whatever the secret may be’. Soon enough, Alec’s lips were pressed against the top of Magnus’s bare thigh. For Magnus, this was... This was…

He pulled back suddenly and rushed to pull his pants back up, “we can’t do this right now Alec.”

”What?” Alec cocked his head to the side as he got back up onto his feet, “why not? I’m in the mood, you’re clearly in the mood an-”

“Are you cheating on me?”

”What?”

”I…” Screw it, Magnus thought, he had to call Alec out on the bullshit, “I know you weren’t with Izzy this morning, I was with her.”

“Did I say Izzy?” Alec let out a laugh, “I meant I was with Jace, usually when I’m with him I’m with her.”

“I was with Jace too.”

”What?”

“What is going on, Alec?”

“I…” Alec backed away from Magnus, glancing around in panic. Magnus stood still waiting for an answer.

“Well?” Magnus crossed his arms, “are you going to tell me the truth or not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Winning And Losing   
> A friend comes to town, and this chapter title is a pun on his name.  
> (There's also many jokes between friends, fires, and the birth of pure evil)


	11. Winning and Losing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec has a meltdown after a hard conversation with Magnus and causes havoc along the way, whilst Jonas is visited by an old friend who seems to know a lot. The team are assembled to search for a new threat after someone goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXCUSE THE PUNNY TITLE (when you see the name of the new OC introduced you'll understand)

The only way Magnus would have been with either Jace or Izzy would be if… He were a member of their team. He felt a burst of anger inside of him.

“Look, if you’re with someone else, just tell me and get it over with.”

”I’m not cheating on you.”

”Then why do you feel the need to lie to me about where you were?” Magnus threw out his arms, “what is so secretive that you can’t tell me?”

Alec glared at the ground beneath him, “you don’t want to know.”

”Yes I do, I’m not going to be the boyfriend of someone who doesn’t want to tell me the truth!”

“Then don’t be my boyfriend!” Alec snapped, looking into Magnus’s eyes and stepping forward, “because if you knew the truth you wouldn’t want to be with me anyway!”

“Oh please, there’s barely anything that could turn me against you, but if you are cheating on me. Then yes, I will be turned against you. So tell me Alec, what exactly are you keeping from me?”

”You really want to know?” Alec scoffed, maintaining the eye contact.

“Tell me right now or get out and don’t come ba-” He stopped as flames engulfed Alec’s hands, the sight made him almost speechless, “you’re… You’re Flamethrower.”

“And you’re a genius,” Alec hissed.

“This… This is.. Insane,” Magnus looked down at the floor, “just like you, I guess.”

”Insane? I’m not insane,” the flames disappeared and Alec rushed forward towards Magnus. 

“Yes you are! You’re evil! You’re disgusting, you’ve tried to hurt innocent people!” Magnus had stepped back away from him, refusing to look him in the eyes. 

After that, Alec was headed towards the door instantly, in a burst of anger he pushed the bookcase that was against the wall. A vase from the shelf fell but Alec never heard a smash, he looked to see the vase floating in mid air, being stopped by a blue force. Then he looked to Magnus who was reaching out to the vase.

“You’re Warlock,” he stated, he didn’t question he already knew. He ran out of the room in a fit of anger, how the fuck does one get themselves into such a shit predicament?

He didn’t dare to look back, or focus on where he was going, which is how he ran directly into Raphael Santiago, one of Magnus’s friends that he knew of.

“Woah, woah. Cool it Hermano,” Raphael commented, placing a hand on Alec’s chest.

Alec instantly pushed the man away from him, he remembered vividly those words had been said by Encanto. He stared at the man and glanced around in time to see Simon following Raphael up the stairs, with a grin on his face. Alec had seen that grin before, Fledgeling.

He ignored any comment the two men made and continued to run down the stairs, how did that happen to him? He was surrounded by his enemies, in love with his rival. He didn’t stop walking, didn’t stop moving, the people in the streets didn’t see him. It was as though he was invisible to them. He grew angrier with each step, he had been fooled. His family had left him and his boyfriend was his number one enemy. It was tragic, really. 

He finally came to a stop outside his house, his family home. He could tell instantly that nobody was home, perfect opportunity. He ran inside quickly and gathered several treasured items. A photobook, a teddy belonging to Max, a necklace belonging to Izzy, a trophy belonging to Jace, a photo of his parents at their wedding, and a blanket of his own. Then he made his way down to the front door and hesitated as he looked around.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “so sorry,” he wasn’t directly speaking to anyone other than himself, but he truly was sorry to his family. They wouldn’t be returning home, their home wouldn’t be there.

He held out his hand and watched as a small flame began to flicker on the carpet of the hallway, it soon spread and as it did Alec ran from the house only turning back to catch a quick glimpse of the house as the flames spread. 

As he saw the flames engulf each room, he realised that this was the most evil thing her had done, and he wasn’t proud. When the neighbours began to notice the fire, he left, fleeing with the treasured items he had taken with him. 

Mistakes were often made by everyone, but Alec was pretty sure his move wasn’t any sort of mistake. 

He ran through several alleyways, unsure of what his destination could be. He just kept running. 

* * * * *

“There’s a fire,” Jace grabbed Izzy’s arm, he pointed to a cloud of black smoke that appeared over the buildings, “perhaps Mermaid needs to get her rescuing on?”

”Perhaps,” Izzy cocked her head, staring at the black smoke, “Jace… That fire is… Really close to our house, get us there as soon as possible,” she ordered gently. Jace nodded and picked Izzy up, then rushing them towards the smoke, the closer they were, the clearer it became. 

The fire wasn’t really close to their house.

It _was_ their house.

They came to a stop in front of the burning home, and Izzy let out a yelp, their home was burning. The instant she went to stop the fire, she was distracted by a voice calling her name.

“Isabelle!” 

She turned to see her mother running towards her, behind Maryse was their father and Max, staring in shock. 

“Isabelle, Jace, you’re okay,” she smiled as she wrapped her arms around them, “where’s your brother? Alec?”

Izzy looked to the fire and then to Jace, giving him a look that she hope translated to ‘it must have been him’, “he’s okay mother,” she bluffed quickly, “he’s with Magnus.”

Her bluff, had of course, been false. She knew that as soon as she saw Magnus rushing towards the scene, he stopped by Izzy’s side and examined the building - or what was left of it. She thanked God that her mother hadn’t seen Magnus yet.

”I know it was him,” Magnus whispered to her, “considering we broke up, he told me he was Flamethrower and then found out I was Warlock. Thank you, by the way, for sitting back and watching as we dated one another. How charming.”

”I was protecting you from him,” she replied, turning to him.

“And now look, he burnt down your house.”

“This isn’t my fault,” she hissed under her breath.

“On the contrary, darling, you let him run off. I know you weren’t being controlled then. You let him go because he was your brother.”

“What else was I supposed to do? Let you take him and realise he was your boyfriend after you took him in?”

”That would have been much easier than this, speaking of this, why haven’t you put it out yet.”

”The firemen will be here soon,” Izzy shrugged, “I can’t put it out in front of my parents.”

“Some hero,” Magnus growled.

“I don’t see you doing anything.”

”Shut up!” Jace snapped to them, “you’re both as bad as each other.”

The fire engine showed up and the trio stepped back, Izzy and Jace were barely able to be emotional. They were confused, shocked. They had no clue why Alec would do such a thing but they knew it was him. 

Izzy glanced to the side and saw how destroyed their parents and Max looked. Their house, their family home, their possession, destroyed. 

“There are so many memories in there,” Jace whispered, “so many.”

”All gone,” Izzy turned away, “we need to find Alec and figure out what’s going on.”

”Like that’s going to be easy,” Magnus scoffed, “he burnt down your house, do you really think he’s going to see you and think ‘oh goody, my sister’?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Izzy narrowed her eyes, “you’re being such a bitch.”

”Gee, I don’t know, maybe I had an argument with my boyfriend and then we broke up. Seeing as I didn’t know who the fuck he was.”

Izzy rolled her eyes, “you know what, for now, you need to get over it.”

”My boyfriend is evil, my boyfriend wants me dead.”

”My brother is missing,” Izzy crossed her arms, “he could do anything.”

* * * * * 

Alec was sat on a park bench, distant from his home. He leaned back and though about what he had just done, how he had burnt his family home to the ground. He was truly a villain. He closed his yes for a moment, only opening them when he felt two people sit either side.

”Dear Alexander,” the man to his left began in a mysterious voice, “how cunningly evil of you, setting your own home on fire. My, my, what fun that must have been.”

He looked to the man and cocked his head, he had blond - almost white - hair and sharp blue eyes, “d-do I know you?”

”How silly,” the woman sneered, and he turned to her. She had long dark hair - similar to Izzy’s - and a slim face, which was currently wearing a smile, “he doesn’t recognise us, his two friends.”

”Oh, you poor foolish boy,” the blond man laughed, “allow us to introduce ourselves properly,” he stood up, as did the woman. They both grinned, “The Master.”

“And Mistress,” the woman’s smile began to look evil. 

Of course it was them.

”Oh,” he looked at both of them, “h-how did you know it’s me?”

“We’re not stupid,” the man sneered, “my name is Sebastian and this is Camille.”

”Okay,” Alec looked at them both, “and… What am I supposed to do?”

”Join us,” Camille placed her hands on her hips, “join our team for good, and you seem like you could use a nice new place to stay, seeing as your family home no longer exists.”

”Okay,” Alec accepted the offer quickly, “are you sure?”

”Of course!” Camille clapped her hands together and somehow her smile grew bigger, “any villain is a friend of ours, now come on! We need to go before any of your friends come by.”

* * * * *

Jonas was shocked when he heard a knock on his door. It couldn’t have been Lydia, and she was the only person who knew where he lived. He approached the door cautiously and placed his hand on the lock. Turning it slowly. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an eyehole so he could see who was on the other side, but at this point in his life he really didn’t care. It could have been Flamethrower, ready to take him out, or Master ready to control him.

It was, in fact, the last person he ever expected it to be. Someone who loved him more than anything else in the world.

“Winn?”

”Surprise!” The man cheered as he waltzed into the apartment.

”How… How do you know my address? I never told you.”

”I’m a master detective Jojo,” Winn dropped his jacket onto Jonas’s sofa, “I know the right technology, I know how to track people. Speaking of, this big job offer you got over here… Was a delivery gig? How droll.”

“You’re my best friend but this is weird.”

”What’s weird is that you never once told me you were a delivery boy, and not even a pizza delivery boy. I know for a fact you wouldn’t have left Ohio for a tiny delivery job, so why did you leave?”

“Winn…”

“I’ll tell you why, because that asshole Isaac abused you,” Winn sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs, “it’s okay, he got what he deserved.”

Jonas stared at Winn with his mouth agape.

”I know everything,” Winn added with a small grin, “and yes I may have got big bro Danny on the case, and big bro Danny may have got his friends on the case, and Isaac may have ended up in hospital. You know how I started to know? Because turtlenecks don’t suit you and you explicitly told me that towards the beginning of our friendship when I tried to get you to wear one. Then all of a sudden you start wearing them? I know you wouldn’t hide hickeys, you were never ashamed of those types of bruises. But bruises of abuse… Of course you’d hide them.”

”You’re… A genius?”

”That’s one word, I prefer observant,” Winn glanced over to the kitchen counter were a tub of ice cream was sat, “okay, hold the phone. What’s happened?”

”What?”

“Ice cream, it equals sad Jonas, why?”

”I…”

“You were broken up with!” 

”I really hate you sometimes,” Jonas mumbled as he retrieved the ice cream.

“You’re just saying that because you’re jealous, I have like… psychic abilities. So what’s his or her name?”

“Lydia.”

“Did she hurt you?”

”No.”

”How long were you dating, wait no, don’t tell me,” he cocked his head to the side as he stared at Jonas, “you look as though you don’t want to be this sad, so it hasn’t been long, but you also look guilty… Did you cheat on her?”

”What? No!”

”Good boy, just testing you.”

Jonas waved his hand and sighed, “Winn.”

“Mm?”

”I hate to change the topic but… This Master guy, the one with the mind control thing, recently showed up… But you recently showed up to.”

”Oh please, you think I’d be evil like that bastard? Come on Jojo, I literally got a guy beaten up for abusing you, I sing Disney songs in the shower, I sing musical songs when I’m cuddling you. The most villainous thing I’ve done was watch porn on the family computer and blame my brother.”

“That’s a good point,” Jonas whispered, “I remember that day,” he let out a playful laugh.

“Anyway, this Master guy showed up here?”

”Yeah,” Jonas nodded, “and… okay so basically… My only friends here are superheroes, they’re constantly having to fight the Master now, I’m scared they’ll get hurt.”

”Really?” Winn’s smile grew, “that is… so awesome.”

”Perhaps to you but… Lydia is one of them, the heroes. The Tempest.”

”You were dating The Tempest!” Winn whisper-shouted, “that’s so fucking awesome dude! I’ve been keeping track of the happenings over here and you were dating the former-villain turned hero. She’s hot, I’ve got to say.”

”She’s sweet… But she broke up with me because this Jack Frost guy-”

”Oh yeah him, he’s a cool dude,” Winn commented, he pressed his lips together to try hide his laughter but he came out in a childish chuckle, “sorry, sorry I had to.”

”This Jack Frost guy reminded her of her fiance.”

”You were dating an engaged woman! Jojo, you fox.”

”Her dead fiance.”

”Shit.”

Jonas shook his head, “she said that she knew it was him, that he was alive and he was Jack Frost.”

“Okay,” Winn stroked his chin as he slowly nodded, “so her fiance is alive?”

“No.”

“So this Jack Frost guy isn’t her fiance?”

”No, he isn’t.”

”And how do you know that?”

”Because I’m Jack Frost!”

Winn sat in silence, in awe. Many expressions ran over his face as he thought about the entire conversation, he began nodding and then stopped, looking Jonas in the eye once again, “you know, this makes you eating ice cream fifty times funnier.”

Jonas deadpanned and shook his head, “my girlfriend broke up with me, for me in disguise.”

”If your girlfriend is a superhero, why didn’t you tell her your identity?”

Jonas sighed, “look, I don’t know. But I can’t really tell her now, she’s set on it being her dead fiance.”

”So… you’re going to build an even bigger lie. Dick move.”

”Support me Winn!”

”Oh right, yes Jonas you should definitely 100% continue lying to her because that absolutely never fails in the superhero shows and films. Iris West did not get hurt multiple for your sins and angst.”

“I don’t need to be psychic to know you’re being fucking sarcastic.”

”That’s my best quality,” Winn pouted, “can I have some of that ice cream?” 

Jonas rolled his eyes as he passed the ice cream tub to Winn, “you’re lucky I love you.” 

* * * * *

Lydia sat in the backroom of the shop with her laptop on the table, she was reading the articles about the accident where John had perished. Or had he? All of the articles claimed that everybody survived. So perhaps John survived after all, but… He didn’t return to her. Still, she was certain that Jack Frost was him.

He could have easily been redeeming himself for leaving her. 

She jumped when she heard knocking on the door, she let out a frustrated sigh and closed her laptop, she got up onto her feet and peeked around the doorframe of the backroom, outside the door she saw Jonas with a box under his arm. What was ridiculous was that it was late in the evening and Jonas knew the store was closed then. What else was stupid was that no delivery came at that time. She approached the door and unlocked it, looking at Jonas with a raised eyebrow.

”Jonas… Nobody delivers at this hour.”

”I’m aware, I just wanted you to have it, it’s from me.

”I break up with you and you shower me with gifts?” Lydia shook her head, “no, Jonas, I don’t want that kind of… I’m not-”

”Hey, the boy wants to give you a gift,” a voice suddenly interrupted, she looked just to the side of the shop door and saw a young man leaning against a wall, “take it.”

“Who are you?”

”I’m Winn,” the man smiled, “ex-boyfriend and best friend of Jonas.”

Lydia nodded and took the package, “right. Look, these,” she held up the package, “can’t continue, I don’t want you to get stuck on me Jonas, not when John’s back.”

“You don’t know it’s him,” Jonas whispered.

Lydia narrowed his eyes, “you think I wouldn’t recognise the love of my life when I look him in the eyes?” She scoffed, “I get it, you’re going to call me crazy, but I’m not. My fiance is alive, leave it at that,” she closed the door and locked it again, turning away. She went back to the room she was in making sure to place the package on the counter. She knew Jonas would have seen her do so.

* * * * *

Alec had fallen asleep fast, which made everything far easier for Sebastian and Camille. Sebastian grinned as he looked at the man’s sleeping form.

“Such a sweet sleeper,” Sebastian cooed sarcastically, he ran a finger down Alec’s cheek, “now, let’s give this a go.”

”Are you sure you don’t want him to settle into safety first?”

“Are you kidding?” Sebastian sneered, “the faster the better,” he placed his hand on Alec’s chest, over his heart, “this man will be a work of pure evil, a beautiful sight,” he grinned and closed his eyes, putting all his force into his palm. Alec began to fidget in his sleep, twitching and groaning. Camille stood still as he did so, “he will be worse than any storm that Tempest could create, worse than any fleas that Alpha catches, he’ll be the most villainous.”

They both watched as Alec jerked awake, his eyes opened revealing soulless black eyes.

“Perfect,” Sebastian laughed darkly, “now, Dark One, you’ll be the one to cause havoc. The pure force of evil in this town.”

* * * * * 

“She doesn’t deserve you anyway,” Winn shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets, “you’re too cute and special, she’s a bitch.”

”She’s usually really nice I swear,” Jonas whispered as they walked away from the shop, “I mean, to be fair to her I did dismiss her beliefs of her fiance being alive.”

”Only because you know the truth,” Winn commented, “what did you give her, exactly?”

”Rise of the Guardians.”

”Aha! I see what you did there, Jack Frost.”

”I tried to do the same thing before when I knew she was The Tempest,” Jonas shrugged, “I sent her a copy of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”

“Aw,” Winn cooed, “that’s cute.”

Jonas gasped, “oh, oh, you know what!”

”What?”

”You could totally work at the lab, you’re a freaking genius, you’d be a great addition!”

“Yes! Add me to your superhero family, let me meet the parents.”

”Stop,” Jonas laughed softly.

“Oh you know you’d refer to someone in there as Daddy.”

”Winn Louton I swear if you don’t shut the fuck up!”

”Are you the Daddy?”

”Winn!”

“Winn?” They both turned around when an odd voice caught them off guard, Jonas’s heart dropped when he saw the sight, Alec was stood with dark eyes and hands twitching at his side, “ironic name, seeing as you’re going to lose.”

”Ha,” Winn deadpanned, “who is this guy, the villain with the bad puns.”

”The villain who has power over me,” Jonas whispered, “Winn, I want you to run to the docks, go into the Jade Wolf and buzz in, say you’re friends with me, let them know everything you know about me.”

“Wh-what?”

”Just go!”

Winn did as instructed and ran as fast as his legs could take him, he didn’t know what would happen to Jonas but he was sure his friend could pull through. In a few minutes he managed to find the Jade Wolf diner, and he did as instructed. He worked into the dilapidated diner and glanced around. He paused briefly to get his breath back before approaching a clean door towards the back with a buzzer next to it. He pressed the buzzer and waited.

“Who is it?”

“M-my name is Winn Louton, I’m Jonas Denver’s best friend. Jonas, you know short blond guy with the glasses. In love with that Lydia girl who broke his heart. He’s Jack Frost!”

There was a pause, “I suppose… You know that much.”

The door opened and Winn gladly walked through it, making sure to close it behind him. He rushed down a long white hall until he came to an open room were a girl was watching him from the desk. He glanced around the room in awe, “woah, I don’t know what’s more gorgeous, this room or you,” he winked to the girl who stared at him for a moment.

“I’m gay.”

Winn stared back at her and slowly nodded, “still gorgeous though.”

“Thanks,” she stood up and approached him, cocking her head curiously, “Winn Louton. Friend of Jonas Denvers. What are you doing here?”

”Jonas told me to come here… We… We were approached by this guy with uh… He was tall, dark hair-”

The girls eyes grew wide, “does he have Pyrokinesis?”

”I think so, Jonas said he was the villain that had power over him and if Jonas’s powers are ice then his must be fire.”

”Where was this?”

”Outside of Lydia’s shop?”

The girl nodded and ran to the desk, dialling someone on the phone and then holding it to her ear, “we have a development, he was spotted outside of Monteverde’s, I think Jonas may be battling him.”

With that she put the phone down and took a seat, quickly typing on the computer, Winn wasn’t sure if she was typing actual words. He slowly approached behind the desk and watched as she pulled up live security footage around the area, there was nothing.

“They were right there,” Winn whispered, “I mean it’s possible they moved. Jonas said Lydia doesn’t know about him being Jack Frost, he wouldn’t battle right outside her store.”

“Perhaps,” the girl shrugged and began to rewind the tape, stopping as they appeared on screen again. There was no audio but Winn watched as though he were watching some new action drama. Jonas was knocked to the ground by a burst of flames and then the man picked him up and left. 

“Shit,” Winn covered his mouth, he had left his best friend and his best friend had been taken, he took the seat next to the girl and looked at her, “you know who that guy was?”

“Flamethrower.”

”What’s his real name?”

”Alexander Lightwood,” she said, and it sounded as though she wished it weren’t true, “he’s the brother of two of our team.”

”Complications, how dramatic,” Winn whispered as he used another computer at the desk.

“Hey!”

”Look,” Winn glanced to the girl, “I lived in Ohio and I managed to track my best friend down just like that,” he snapped his fingers, “I’ve got this.”

”And pray tell what system you’re going to use to find him?”

”I’m going to start off with Facebook,” he chuckled slightly and went onto the social media site, quickly finding the man’s Facebook page and then going into his information, “shit I need to be a friend.”

”Lucky you I know Magnus’s account,” she leaned over the computer and logged into a new account.

Winn went back onto the man’s account and onto the information, “oh… Him and this Magnus guy are boyfriends?”

”They broke up earlier today after finding out that they were super rivals.”

”Damn this thing gets even more dramatic,” Winn whispered, he pulled out his phone and copied out the phone number that had been written on the page, “phone tracker,” he whispered, “always works.”

He did so and then showed the girl the location.

”That’s Magnus’s apartment,” she whispered, picking up her own phone to call her friend, “Magnus? Jonas’s friend tracked Alec’s phone and it’s tracked to your apartment-” She paused and then rolled her eyes as she looked back to Winn, “right… Thanks anyway,” she ended the called and frowned, “he left his phone there after the break up.”

”Fantastic,” Winn pouted, about to give up when a goofy smile showed on his face, “you know, I’m smart but sometimes I’m stupid,” he opened the app again, “I can just track Jonas’s phone.”

“I already hate you.”

Winn gasped as the app loaded, “but I’m a smart guy, and I’m pretty.”

The girl began to laugh, “I’m Maia by the way.”

“Nice name.”

“Thanks, still gay.”

”I know,” Winn scoffed, “I was being polite.”

* * * * *

Maia somehow sense that Winn may have been a good man to trust, he was friends with Jonas after all and Jonas was wiser than to be friends with an asshole. She watched as he stared down at the app, in a matter of moments he had accepted this new world and taken to finding his friend. 

“Do you know where this is?” He showed her the screen. 

Maia looked at the screen, recognising the map immediately, “that’s near the Hunter’s Moon.”

“The Hunter’s Moon?”

”The bar, I work there,” she watched as the footage on her screen switched to live footage. Warlock was at the scene, he searched around the area but it was clear he couldn’t find anything, she called him up quickly and it didn’t take him too long to answer, “Magnus, Alec took him. Winn has tra-”

“Who’s Winn?”

”Jonas’s friend, he tracked Jonas’s phone to a building near Hunter’s Moon.”

”Alright, I’ll be coming to the lab, round up everyone else.”

”Okay,” Maia was about to hang up, “wait, Magnus, who do we say was taken? Lydia still doesn’t know it’s him.”

”Jack Frost,” Winn answered her, he showed her the phone screen where a text from Jonas appeared.

_Jack Frost has been taken._

“Jonas texted you that?”

“Perhaps it wasn’t Jonas,” Winn whispered, “Jonas doesn’t text like this, I know that for a fact. He leaves three kisses, never uses a full stop unless he’s ranting. Plus he doesn’t refer to himself in third person.”

“Jack Frost,” Maia spoke down the phone, “everyone needs to know that Jack Frost is missing.”

”Right, I’ll be at the lab as soon as possible.”

The call ended, Maia looked at Winn, “why are they referring to him as Jack Frost though? He’s in his citizen clothes, right?”

“Well, Jack Frost will catch the attention of Tempest,” Winn mumbled, “Jonas told me that Lydia’s convinced Jack Frost is her fiance, even though it’s him,” he paused, “actually today she said to him ‘you think I wouldn’t recognise the love of my life when I look him in the eyes?’ So, does that technically mean Jonas is the love of her life?”

Maia cocked her head and hummed, “wouldn’t that be heartbreaking and romantic.”

"I think he had his Jack Frost clothes in a bag with him at the time, which means that they can change him if they please."

They continued casual chatter until the team arrived and Maia watched as Winn’s expression grew into one of excitement.

“Who’s this?” Clary asked, pointing to Winn.

”Hi, I’m Winn.”

”Ex-boyfriend and best friend of Jonas,” Lydia continued, watching Winn closely, “where is Jonas?”

Winn sat in a brief moment of silence before stuttering out, “well… You see… He’s… On a date!” 

“A date?”

”Now really isn’t the time to get jealous Lydia,” Izzy tutted.

“I broke up with him today!”

“Jonas needs to get out and see the world,” Winn waved a hand, “anyway, jealous ex-girlfriend matters aside, your new friend Jack Frost has been taken.”

Lydia stepped back and let her mouth drop open, “Jack Frost?”

”That’s what I said, do you have to keep repeating me?”

“Right, sorry,” Lydia bowed her head. 

”The location is near the Hunter’s Moon,” Maia stood up as she spoke, “just opposite in fact. The question is, what is opposite the Hunter’s Moon?”

”A bunch of warehouses,” Magnus commented, frowning momentarily, “so Jack Frost is being kept in a warehouse?”

“How cliche,” Winn mumbled, “so do you send the whole team or?”

”Myself, Jace and Clary will sort it out,” Izzy stepped forward, “we’re closest to Alec, and I don’t think sending Warlock is very wise right now,” she glanced at Magnus, “it would only make him angrier.”

“I’ll gladly sit back,” Magnus shrugged, “honestly, though, do remember he is the one who burnt your home to the ground.”

Maia saw Winn staring with wide eyes.

“Speaking of, have your parents found a place to stay? I know a rather nice hotel towards the East and-”

”We don’t need your help,” Izzy growled, she turned away and began to walk, Clary and Jace shortly following her.

Maia glanced over to Luke, “what the hell is going on? I get that Magnus and Alec broke up, I get that Alec started the fire but why are Izzy and Magnus fighting?”

”I’m right here,” Magnus commented, crossing his arms and walking towards the desk.

”Stress,” Luke replied, “everyone’s getting on edge.”

”That’s great,” Maia hissed, “but superheroes shouldn’t be acting like this. It’s immature and useless!”

“So superheroes are human after all,” Winn commented from next to her, Maia turned to him and gave him a look that made his smile drop.

“You,” she turned to Magnus, “need to get over whatever fucking throne of pride you’re sitting on, because it’s not going to sort your love life out. And Izzy needs to stop blaming people for her brother’s mistakes. You can’t keep blaming each other for Alec’s turn into villainy. He’s the monster here, not you and not Izzy.”

There was a moment of silence, Simon and Raphael were stood side by side, watching with joy as Maia’s rant finished. Luke had a smile spread across his face. Lydia had been staring in slience. Magnus was speechless…

“I really like you,” Winn scoffed out a laugh.

”Still gay.”

“I know,” Winn held up his hands in a cry of defence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look another OC! Both Jonas and Winn are also used in my fic 'Forbidden Attraction' if you want to check that out ;)  
> Kudos and Comments are ALWAYS appreciated :D


	12. The Hunt for Hot and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary, Izzy and Jace begin the hunt for their old team member and the innocent friend he's taken. Lydia reacts to news that Jonas has already began seeing somebody else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It always feels like it's been months since I've updated but it's only been a couple of weeks...

Clary watched cautiously as Izzy approached the scene, it was dark and cold but none of them cared. They all cared about the safety of their friend - or so Clary thought. It didn’t take her long to realise Izzy didn’t care about Jonas’s survival, but instead she was focused on finding her brother.

The warehouse opposite the Hunter’s Moon was empty, and when they found that, Izzy let out a frustrated yell. Jace watched her with a worried expression.

”Iz, calm down.”

“Our own brother is ruining our lives,” she snapped, “he took away our home, our childhood!”

“I know Iz, I know.”

”Then stop acting like you’re on his side Jace!”

Whilst they were arguing, Clary took the time to walk further into the warehouse. She blocked out the yelling from the siblings and looked around. Somebody had been in the warehouse, she just knew it. She approached a dark corner, afraid of what she could find hidden by the shadows.

Each step brought her closer to a revelation. She crouched down when she had seen it.

There, in the corner of the warehouse, was Jonas’s phone. She picked it up and ran back to the siblings who were still arguing.

”Guys!” She silenced them and held up the phone, “they left the phone here.”

“Clever,” Jace frowned, “that’s the perfect way to throw us off track.”

Izzy’s expression turned to one of even more anger, “great, our fucking brother has outsmarted us.”

”Calm down, Izzy,” Clary placed a hand on Izzy’s shoulder, “take a breath.”

“My brother ruined our family home. I want to get revenge.”

“No,” Clary grabbed the girl’s hand and looked into her eyes, “you’re not going to do that, you’re going to remain calm and approach him in a gentle manner. Anger won’t get you anywhere!”

“Try having your entire childhood burnt to the ground, Clary,” Isabelle whimpered, “every memory.”

“You still have each other Izzy, build new memories.”

Izzy shook her head and Clary noticed the tears beginning to fall, “my life was in that house Clary.”

“You know why your memories are memories,” Clary spoke back, “because you remember them, in your mind. Memories don’t need to be physical.”

”You’ve obviously never lost anything precious to you,” Izzy hissed, making Clary step back. She threw her hair over her shoulder, turned and left.

Clary looked to Jace who had been watching the girls talk, “just for the record,” Jace stepped forward, “I think you were right.”

“Now is not the time to be taking sides,” Clary whispered, following Izzy out of the warehouse. Jace also followed. Nobody spoke, they just walked, even Jace, “it was a decoy trail then, he ditched phone and fled somewhere else. But how could Alec carry someone through the city without being a cause for concern?”

”Car, obviously,” Jace tutted.

Clary turned and stopped walking - causing the entire trio to stop, “except this is an alley. Cars can’t come down here.”

“Well what else?” Izzy sighed, “some secret tunnel?”

Clary and Jace looked at each other briefly, then Jace picked up the two girls and dropped them off at the warehouse. He pointed to the center of the open space, there was a metal trap door.

“You’re kidding me,” Izzy raised her eyebrows, “that’s… Ridiculously cliche.”

“It could be another trap,” Jace mumbled, he walked over to the door and pulled the handle. With one sharp strong tug the door opened, “or just a trap door.”

”You’re not going down there,” Izzy whispered, “suppose they’re waiting to corner us, suppose Alec knew we were coming and hid down there?”

“And suppose that he didn’t know we were coming and just used this as his escape, call Maia see if there’s any footage of him leaving the building - the Hunter’s Moon security cams would have caught it.”

Izzy nodded and took out her phone to call Maia.

Clary looked through the trapdoor and hummed, “did he jump down here or something? There’s no ladder? You can’t even see the ground.”

“It can’t be that low,” Jace shrugged, he stood up straight, took a chance and jumped down the trap door.

”Jace!”

”I’m fine,” he replied after a brief pause, “it’s a soft landing.”

Clary rolled her eyes and glanced over to Izzy who was waiting for some answers from Maia, “search the area quickly.”

There was another brief pause, “done, there’s nothing but tons of different exits.”

“Great,” Clary sighed.

”Stand back, I’m coming up!”

Clary pushed herself onto her feet and backed away from the trap door, she glanced over to Izzy, and back again - Jace was already closing the trap door. He smiled over to Clary and clapped his hands together. 

”There’s no footage of them leaving,” Izzy sighed, “and the only other exit is that one.”

“Well, at least that’s one part of the mystery solved,” Jace placed his hands on his hips only problem is, that system is reminiscence of a maze.”

“Can’t you search it?”

”Alone?” Jace raised an eyebrow, “suppose I get caught, suppose Mistress is down there waiting to race me.”

“We need to save Jonas,” Clary reminded him swiftly.

“And stop Alec,” Izzy added, “get him back to being our big brother, I can’t handle him being like this.”

“It’s starting to anger you,” Jace agreed, “which isn’t good for any of us. If we start fighting each other…”

Izzy’s expression turned to one of guilt, “I’m so sorry, I’ll try to keep calm.”

“And no taking your anger out on Magnus? He’s struggling too, he just found out his boyfriend has been wanting him dead for a while.”

“Okay, I won’t take it out on Magnus.”

”Fantastic,” Clary giggled slightly, “now smile, my love,” she bounced over to Izzy and placed her hands on her cheeks, “come on, just for me?”

Izzy playfully batted Clary’s hands away and fought back laughter, “okay, okay,” she showed a smile and watched as Clary’s face brightened up, “I’ll smile for you.”

* * * * *

Camille watched Alec with a grin, his soulless black eyes would have been haunting to the weaker people in the world. But to Camille they were beautiful, pure evil. Alec dropped the young man on the floor of the basement, grinning as he stood up again.

“He’s quite beautiful, isn’t he?” She taunted as she approached the men, “don’t you think>”

The weak man on the floor looked up and pulled a face, “I think- I think you and I ha-have a very different I-idea of beautiful.”

“That’s right,” Camille faked a gasp as she turned to the blond on the floor, “your idea of beauty is that ridiculous Tempest, right?” She watched with joy as Jonas flinched at the name, “the foolish heartbreaker, Lydia Branwell.”

“D-don’t.”

”Oh, too soon? Precious boy can’t handle the pain of the girl that left him for little Jack Frost. Which is you! How hilarious is that?”

“Sh-shut up.”

Camille let out a shrill laugh and crouched down next to the man quickly, making him jump back, “don’t speak to me like that young one, we’re not planning on killing you but if you keep speaking like that, well - bye bye little bi.”

”How... How do you know so much?”

”Because unlike your little clan, we’re not stupid.”

Jonas grunted and pushed himself up to a sitting position, “they’re not stupid, they’re going to find you, they’re going to find me.”

“Because they care about you?” A voice introduced itself, Camille laughed and backed away from Jonas, giving him a path to see the man at the door. Sebastian. He walked closer and crouched down as Camille had been, “newsflash, they don’t. I mean really, you were a filler for that Lydia. She got rid of you as soon as she thought her fiance was alive again. She’s going to be severely disappointed when she finds out you’re little Jack Frost.”

“Shut up.”

”Can’t take the idea of someone being disappointed to see your face?” The man laughed and then he stopped and cocked his head to the side, “would it remind you too much of the disappointment Isaac had whenever he saw your wretched face?”

Camille continued to watch with joy as the boy’s expression dropped, “that’s right,” she teased, “we know far more than most of your friends know.”

”You lived in Ohio,” Jonas whispered, “didn’t you? You were accountable f-for numerous attacks around Ohio and… Where I used to live.”

”I remember feeling so joyful when I saw Isaac hurt you how he did,” Sebastian clapped his hands together and let out another laugh.

”You saw?”

”Outside that Kenzie’s Coffee Shop,” Sebastian recalled the thought, “that was the most exciting thing I had ever seen.”

“Oh when he grabbed his wrist and yanked him,” Camille let out a laugh again.

“Abuse is not funny,” Jonas hissed, glaring up at the pair. He then turned to Alec who was stood in the same position staring down at Jonas, “what have you done to him?”

”We told you honey,” Camille spoke in false kindness, “he’s pure evil.”

“Pure evil? You realise pure evil usually defeats the evil as well as the good, right? Pure evil have care for nobody, not even people they once loved,” he paused, “you… You made him start the fire, didn’t you.”

”Oh no, dear, he did that all by himself,” Camille tapped her chin and then crouched down again, “because he’s built to be pure evil.”

“No, he’s not,” Jonas whispered, “Alec is a good guy.”

“That’s a lie,” Camille slowly turned to Alec who had barely moved from his position, “Alexander, dearest, what’s your goal?”

”To destroy everything,” Alec’s voice wasn’t his own, it was dark and harsh.

“That’s not him speaking,” Jonas glared at Camille.

“Oh but it is,” Sebastian laughed, “you see, to create this force of pure evil… Everything about this pure evil boy is from inside his head, the darkest thoughts in his mind.”

“Alec,” Jonas turned to the man, “think of Magnus, Izzy, Jace! What about Max?”

”They will all die,” the man replied and Jonas felt breathless when he heard it.

“Your mother! Your father?”

”They will die.”

“You can’t really think that,” Jonas whispered, “you love them, Alec.”

“They will die.”

”And me? You brought me here to kill me?”

”You are bait,” Alec’s head twitched to the side, “the Tempest will die.”

“No she won’t,” Jonas shook his head, “we will find a way to stop you.”

”We?” Alec’s twitched again as he cocked his head to the other side, “you won’t be doing anything with your team again. You are only bait. Once you are used, you will be destroyed.”

A small smile played on Jonas’s face, “oh sure,” he began a tasteless joke, “you can destroy me anytime,” he threw a wink at Alec hoping that perhaps a joke would snap him out of it.

“Stop talking,” Alec snapped, hands twitching, “your foolishness will get you no where, you will perish sooner if you act like this. Everyone will die.”

”What about… What about Master and Mistress,” Jonas glanced over to Camille and Sebastian, “what happens to them.”

“They will die.”

”And you, Alec? What happens to you.”

“Alec will die, I will have no more need for him,” Alec responded, a terrifying grin showing up on his face after a moment, “nobody will survive.”

Jonas looked down to the ground and sighed, “what do you want me to do?”

”I want you to submit,” Alec moved forward and dropped down to place his hands on Jonas’s shoulders, “you will do as ordered, when ordered.”

Jonas nodded slowly, “yes.”

”So from here on, until spoken to, you will not speak,” Alec stood up again and growled, “you will remain silent,” he turned and walked out of the basement. 

Camille turned to Sebastian, “he’s going to kill us as well?”

“Once he’s rid us of,” Sebastian paused to look down to Jonas, “these superhero assholes, I’ll call back the control. The evil won’t kill Alec, but when he knows what he’s done to his friends, his family, he’ll get rid of himself. Then we’ll have our own fun without them blocking the way.” 

“You can’t do that, that’s… That’s-” Jonas began, trying to think of a word.

”Evil?” Camille raised an eyebrow, “that’s exactly what we want to be deary.”

* * * * *

Magnus was miserable and that was painfully obvious.

He sat in the corner of the labs, refusing to stand up, refusing to speak, just thinking about Alec. When Alec realised Magnus was Warlock, his face was… Different. He wasn’t angry, or shocked, he was just… Emotionless. 

Magnus didn’t even look up when Raphael and Simon stood in front of him.

“I think Alec recognised me as Encanto, he ran into me on the stairs and I said ‘cool it Hermano’-”

“Which he had previously said to Flamethrower during a battle,” Simon added.

“And then Alec turned to me and looked at me like I had just taken a shit in his most treasured trophy.”

Simon nodded, “he looked at me like that too, perhaps he saw us for who we were now. I mean it’s like a domino effect. He finds out that you’re Warlock and then one by one he figures out the rest of us.”

“But Magnus,” Raphael crouched down, “this will end, we’ll get Alec back.”

Magnus bowed his head, but stayed silent.”

“We won’t hurt him unless necessary,” Simon offered, “like unless we’re practically begged to hurt him.”

The trio went silent, and the silence was suddenly broken when Lydia ran back into the labs, she had briefly gone somewhere but didn’t say where, “Maia, can’t you bring up the security footage of the fight, if it happened outside my shop there’s cameras that would have picked it up.”

Raphael and Simon parted slightly, given Magnus way to see Winn and Maia behind the desk, they glanced at each other and then to Lydia before shaking their heads.

“Corrupted,” Winn lied quickly.

“Maia can sort out corrupted files,” Lydia shrugged.

”No like,” Maia began, looking to Winn with wide eyes, “the camera… The camera is corrupted, broken, kaput.”

“I literally just went to investigate the area,” Lydia raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, “the camera’s around there are fine.”

”From the outside perhaps,” Maia tutted, “but the wires to the surrounding cameras have been cut.”

Lydia frowned and looked away, then quickly turning back, “why don’t you want me to watch the footage.”

”Well, I mean-” Winn puffed out his cheeks and looked over to the trio in the corner.

“Lydia they’re not lying,” Luke spoke up from another area of the room, “the cameras are busted, this attack was planned in advance.”

Lydia let out a sigh, “damn,” she looked to Winn, “did you and Jonas see anything happen? You were there just before hand.”

”I caught a glimpse of the Flamethrower guy but then Jonas rushed me here.”

”And then ran off for a date?”

”Jonas hasn’t had sex in a long time,” Winn narrowed his eyes as he bluffed, “let the boy live.”

”Call him up right now,” Lydia slammed her hand on the desk, making Maia and Winn jump, “make sure he knows how irresponsible he’s being by ditching the team to go fuck somebody!”

“Calm down,” Winn winced, staring up at the girl, “you’re being so petty, when you’re the one who broke up with him because you think some superhero is your dead fiance.”

”Call him!”

”Fine!”

Winn did as asked and called the boy’s phone, knowing full well Jonas wouldn’t pick up. After a few rings he was surprised that it was answered, but it wasn’t Jonas.

”Winn, we couldn’t find Jo-”

”Hey Jonas!” Winn quickly interrupted Clary, “how’s it going? The date?”

”What? Winn, I-”

“Ah, good, good. Lydia told me to check, she’s being a little bit jealous.”

Lydia frowned from where she was stood.

“Really? He did that? Damn, well done, I’m still to meet a guy that would do that, was it good?”

“You’re pretending I’m Jonas aren’t you?” Clary sighed.

“Yeah,” Winn laughed, “like what does it feel like?”

“Good,” Clary bluffed an answer so perhaps Winn wouldn’t feel so awkward about the fake conversation.

“Good? Just good?”

”Heavenly.”

“Awesome. So anyway, once you’ve finished and pulled your pants back up, maybe ditch the guy and come to the labs?”

”No,” Lydia sighed, “don’t make him ruin something for me.”

“Oh honey, it’s too late for that, he’s already ruined this guy’s ass,” Winn replied, winking to Lydia.

Maia, Magnus, Raphael and Simon all tried to stifle their laughter at the comment. Clary on the other end of the phone was just as shocked to hear the comeback.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then Jojo,” Winn spoke to his friend again, “Lydia says don’t bother coming to the labs, so see you then.”

”See you soon Winn,” Clary replied before the phone call ended.

“Now,” Winn dropped the phone onto the table, “are you going to get over it?”

”He fucked someone on the same day I broke up with him.”

”I think we all know who’s fault this was,” Winn scoffed, “please, don’t make me hate you more than I already do.”

Lydia’s mouth dropped open, she wanted to reply but instead she turned and walked away.

Magnus smiled slightly, “well, that was interesting.”

Once Lydia was out of earshot and sight Winn’s smile dropped, “we need to find him, I- I can’t lose him. He’s my family.”

“We’ll find him,” Maia smiled to him.

”We’ll find both Jonas and Alec,” Magnus stood up from the corner, “they’ll both be safe again.”

* * * * *

Clary was putting Jonas’s phone into her pocket as Jace looked over to her, “what were you laughing at?”

”Lydia said to let Jonas stay with the guy she thinks he slept with because she didn’t want him to ruin anything and Winn said ‘it’s too late for that, he’s ruined this guy’s ass’,” she chuckled again, “I like Winn, he’s… He’s funny.”

Izzy had a smile on her face, “that is quite funny,” she let out a small giggle as they moved to the exit of the warehouse. Once outside they looked into the Hunter’s Moon where somebody at the bar was watching them through the window, the man looked confused to see them.

“He’s giving us an odd look,” Clary whispered, “perhaps we should check it out, he might know something.”

Jace nodded and led the two girls into the bar, the made their way straight to the man, who had ducked his head down as soon as they entered. Jace tapped the bar counter.

“Hey,” he called the man in his ‘polite voice’, “why were you looking at us like that?”

”I…” The man began, he shook his head, “I’m pretty sure I already saw you guys leave, and I didn’t see you come back,” he cocked his head to the side, “w-would you like a drink?”

The trio looked at each other, of course, they hadn’t been in their superhero disguise at all.

”Oh,” Izzy nodded, “you must be seeing things.”

”Actually I’m Raj,” the man let out a weak laugh and paused when the trio stared at him with blank expressions, “get it because… You said you must be seeing things, so… I’m Raj… No? Tough crowd, okay.”

”Where you working an hour or two ago?”

”Yeah.”

”Did you by any chance see two men walk in there?” Clary leaned on the counter, “one very tall, dark hair, angry expression. Another shorter, blond-ish hair, perhaps looked scared?”

”Well,” Raj shrugged, “perhaps I did? I don’t know, I’ve seen so many people come in and out of here.”

”But the warehouse, how often do people come in and out of there?” Izzy’s hands were placed firmly on her hips.

“Not very often.”

“Then tell us, did you see two men enter the warehouse earlier,” Clary’s voice became stronger, she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

“Yes,” the man sighed.

”And did they leave?”

”No, I thought perhaps you guys were going in there to meet them,” Raj sighed, “look can you either buy a drink or leave?”

“We’ll be going,” Izzy answered harshly, “I think we have all the answers we need,” she waved Clary and Jace to follow her as she left the bar. As she glanced back over her shoulder she saw Raj looking to the side with an odd expression… As though he hadn’t told them something. She told Clary and Jace to wait at the door and then ran back to the bar, “what aren’t you telling us?”

”I- I-”

”Izzy,” Jace called for his sister but she dismissed it.

”What are you hiding?”

“Flamethrower,” the man whispered, “he was one of them, that villain guy. I think… I think he was going to hurt the other man.”

”He won’t if we stop him,” Izzy replied, then running back to Clary and Jace, “thanks,” she yelled back to Raj before leaving the bar.

The trio stopped outside the bar and looked at each other, “so it looked as though Alec was going to hurt Jonas,” Jace hummed.

“As if we didn’t know that,” Clary sighed, “it doesn’t make the search any better.”

Izzy nodded, “perhaps we should just get back to the lab, pass the phone to Winn and tell them about the tunnels.”

”Excellent idea,” Jace clapped his hands together, “also ask Maia about Raj, they work together - just find out if he’s a trustworthy source.”

“Fantastic,” Izzy smiled, “are you good to carry us both back to the Institute?”

”Yeah, super strength is helpful,” he picked both of the girls up and sped them back to the lab. They came to a stop outside where Lydia was sat on the ground with her back against the wall of the building.

Clary whispered for Jace and Izzy to go inside, she passed the phone to Jace and then made her way to Lydia. She crouched down next Lydia and gently placed her hand on her shoulder, “are you alright?”

“Not really,” Lydia replied quietly, “is it stupid that I’m upset about Jonas? I broke up with him but… He’s off with someone else, sleeping with someone else. It’s so… I broke up with him today! Today!”

Clary sighed, “a lot can happen in one day,” she shrugged, “we met Jack Frost today… And then he was taken from us.”

“But how does someone do that? Get broken up with and then go and fuck someone else in the same day!”

“Lydia,” Clary tutted slightly, “he was hurt, alone, perhaps he needed this release.”

”Jonas wouldn’t… He wouldn’t do that kind of thing Clary, he told me that things happened in his past to make him aware of who he’s with!”

”Perhaps that’s how much he’s hurt.”

Of course Clary knew that that wasn’t the case, but if Lydia were so eager to break up with Jonas because she thought her fiance was alive, then perhaps the pain she felt was deserved. Clary comforted Lydia for a short while before they both headed back into the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME: Master's Bait  
> Featuring a punny title that I haven't stopped laughing at, reconciliation and some poorly written fighting scenes (there's also a cold-hearted villain)


	13. Master's Bait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation is made that could change the lives of the heroes.

The next day they were still searching for a sign of Jack Frost, Winn had once again covered for Jonas - saying that the date from last night actually ended up giving him food poisoning. Then the day after that, according to Winn - Jonas was still suffering from food poisoning, and the search for Jack Frost was still going. Jace had followed eight routes of the tunnel but they got him nowhere, knowing his luck it would be the last one. Izzy had made sure her parents found a new place to stay with their friend Hodge, whilst she opted to stay with Clary. Jace had been given a place to stay with Luke, and so he took the offer. Magnus realised he didn’t like sleeping without Alec anymore, Lydia spent her nights wondering if she had made a mistake with believing that Jack Frost was John - she tried to call Jonas but he would always ignore her calls. What had she done to him? Simon and Raphael kept to normal, as had Luke - with the addition of Jace of course. Maia had eventually offered Winn a place to stay, seeing as he wouldn’t be able to get into Jonas’s apartment without him. 

It soon became clear that whoever had taken him didn’t want to be found with Jonas, so what was Alec and whoever he was working with doing?

Maia had asked Luke to visit the lab, seeing as he might see some sense into the situation. Winn had also joined her, well, she had made him come because she couldn’t trust people in her home without her.

Winn and Maia sat at the desk whilst Luke paced the room.

”Whatever’s going on… We need to stop it.”

“Obviously,” Winn tutted.

”But they don’t want to be found,” Luke sighed, “I think… They could be waiting for something.”

“For what?” Winn raised an eyebrow, “nothing important is coming up.”

”Lydia’s birthday is tomorrow,” Maia whispered, she then looked to Luke, “what if the Jack Frost disappearance is to torment her?”

“That’s not a bad thought,” Luke nodded, “they could be… Providing us with situations that will hurt us, providing a weakness.”

Winn stood up, “I suppose it’s already proving to work, Lydia is freaking out without Jonas. She doesn’t realise it, but she’s panicking more about him than about Jack Frost.”

“She can’t let jealous emotions get in the way, if she sees Jonas again - she’ll get… irritated,” Luke frowned.

Maia cocked her head in thought, “what if… They’re going to unmask Jonas? It will reveal his identity to Lydia, she’ll realise her fiance isn’t alive. That she’s been foolish. She’ll regret it all more than she already does.”

”Of course, a mental punishment before a physical one,” Winn hummed, “classic villain move - destroy the person’s mental state and then destroy them.”

”Do you think… Jonas is going to be okay?” Luke flashed Winn a concerned look.

“Jonas is already broken,” Winn admitted, “he hides it but inside, he’s broken. I suppose the short time he had with Lydia was fixing him, even if she is a bit of a bitch,” he quickly mumbled the ending and rolled his eyes.

“Forget Tempest, we’ll call her Temper from now on,” Maia joked with a small smile, Winn and Luke tried to hide their smiles but it was difficult. As the laughter began, they all noticed Magnus walking into the lab so they ceased the laughing.

“Glad you lot can find some fun in a time like this,” he sighed.

“Are you alright?” Winn watched Magnus curiously, the man seemed a mess, unprepared for a day.

“I can’t sleep,” Magnus confessed weakly, “I think about Alec… I look through his phone… I miss him.”

“I miss Jonas,” Winn whispered, hoping to comfort him with his mirroring sorrow, “I can’t unlock his phone, but if I could I’m sure I’d be doing the same thing as you.”

“I know he’s done bad things now but… I miss his joy, I miss his smile, I miss all the good things about him.”

“We’ll get him back.”

”You’ve been saying that for the past three days,” Magnus replied in a quite mumble, “I’m losing faith.”

Winn felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he took it out as he began to speak, “never lose faith Magnus, faith is the on thing that- Ah!” He let out a scream as the photo showed up on his phone. A picture of Jonas in his Jack Frost costume (of course, he had had it in his bag the day he was taken). 

“What is it?” Magnus rushed to look at the screen, when he saw it his jaw dropped.

Winn cocked his head as he examined the photo, Luke and Maia took a moment to run over to look, “oh God,” Maia whispered, seeing the state of Jonas - what they could make out of him.

“That’s… That’s right outside,” Luke whispered, “Maia, call the team! They’ll have to fight in their own identites, get Simon, Raphael and Jace to gather them all.”

”On it,” Maia nodded as she held the phone to her ear.

Before Luke or Magnus could stop Winn he had ran towards the doors, Magnus called after him but the man still ran outside.

He stumbled to a stop outside when he escaped the doorway, the sight that stopped him was Flamethrower holding Jack Frost’s upper arm with a grip that looked as though it could bruise. 

“Jonas,” he whispered. He had seen Jonas hurt before, when he was with Isaac, and from this distance Jonas looked worse.

In the next moment the other members of the team had assembled. All in line with Winn. Lydia was next to him, struggling to breathe as she took in the sight.

“John,” Winn heard her whisper.

“It’s not John,” Winn snapped, turning to her.

”Yes it is,” She growled back, pushing Winn slightly and surging forward.

”Lydia come back!” Jace called out.

“Let him go,” she hissed to Flamethower - as though that would actually work, “he’s done nothing wrong! Please Alec!”

“Why should I?” The dark voice replied and Winn could see the heartbreak running through everyone, they all knew it wasn’t truly Alec when they heard his voice, “this man means nothing to you, doesn’t he?”

”He means the world to me!” Lydia cried out, “please! I can’t lose John, not again!”

There was an evil, dark laugh and everyone winced, “oh no, did none of these foolish bastards tell you?” He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head with a grin, “well, well,” he placed his hand on the edge of Jack Frost’s mask, “prepare yourself dear Lydia, you never saw this coming. How stupid are you?”

She stayed silent as Flamethrower began to pull off Jack Frost’s mask.

Jonas’s face was revealed, he was bruised and cut, there was dry blood from his mouth down his chin. Lydia had stopped walking, she gasped and backed away slightly, “J-Jonas?”

”That’s right,” Alec growled, “and your friends never told you.”

Lydia glanced back over her shoulder, obviously feeling betrayed by the truth.

”They’re not really your friends though, are they? They all lied to you, they didn’t care for you at all.”

Lydia looked to the ground, “you’re… You’re right.”

”No he isn’t,” they were all shocked to hear Jonas mumble the response, “Lydia, I… They did it f-for me.”

“You made them lie to me?”

”D-don’t, l-listen to h-”

”What did I say about speaking?” Alec yelled and threw Jonas to the ground, “now I’ll have to destroy you.”

”You can’t destroy something that’s already shattered,” Jonas replied quietly.

Winn stepped back as Simon and Raphael ran forward to apprehend Alec, he only threw them off. Nobody could easily get to him, he was stronger. Whilst the team attacked him, Winn saw Lydia stood still in the path between him and Jonas. He moved passed her and rushed over to his friend, he crouched down and gave Jonas a brief smile, “you’re going to be okay Jojo, I promise,” he helped Jonas up and glanced over to Lydia, “shouldn’t you be putting your powers to good use?”

Lydia looked at Jonas and then nodded, turning away and doing as Winn had said. Winn assisted Jonas toward the lab, the shorter boy was struggling to walk so Winn ended up scooping him into a bridal position, “you’re my best friend but I never pictured carrying you like this.”

”I believe he belongs to us,” a voice made Winn turn his head. A tall man with blond hair was glaring at Winn, Master, “so hand him over.”

”Fuck you,” Winn replied, beginning to run with Jonas in his arms, he stopped when a woman appeared in front of him.

”Uh-uh,” she waved a finger at Winn, “he’s our bait.”

”Really?” He looked over to Master and cocked his head, “so… Jonas is your bait. Does that make you Master Baiter?” He cracked the bad joke and as Master and Mistress gave a defeated reaction Winn dodged around them and ran in through the door. The door to the lab was still open so he rushed inside and slammed it shut, Jonas began to groan, “I know it was a bad joke but it got you away form them didn’t it?”

* * * * *

Magnus felt Alec’s hand around his throat, tightening each second, he looked into the man’s eyes but it was clear that Alec wasn’t there - only evil. 

“Alec please, you’re in there somewhere,” he tried, “please. I love you.”

“Foolish,” Alec growled.

“Alexander!”

”He doesn’t want you, he doesn’t love you, he never will.”

”Yes he does, I know he does.”

”No, he doesn’t,” there was an evil laugh and Magnus was pushed back, falling down onto the ground. Alec moved towards him but Magnus threw up his hand and created a forcefield around himself. It may have been a coward’s escape but he needed to do it. He watched as Alec pressed his hands against the forcefield and pushed, Magnus watched in horror as the man managed to push through the forcefield, breaking it completely.

He rushed back onto his feet and backed away.

“He’d want you dead,” Alec yelled, throwing a ball of fire towards Magnus. Magnus couldn’t avoid it in time and fell back with the force of it hitting him in the chest. It was painful but Magnus didn’t focus on that pain, he just wanted Alec back.

“Alec please!”

“He’s not Alec, why don’t you listen to him,” the Master laughed from behind Magnus, he then grabbed his wrists and held him back, “go on, Pure Evil, destroy him.”

Magnus felt tears fall down his cheeks as he watched Alec approach him, a grin twitching onto his face. 

“Do it then,” he whispered, head bowing, “I can’t continue like this.”

Alec’s hand moved to Magnus’s chest and Magnus didn’t want to think about anything other than the happy times he had had with Alec, the joy when they kissed, the giggles between. When everything felt normal.

”He’s not being mind-controlled! It’s his heart!” 

Magnus’s head snapped up to look at the door of Jade Wolf where Winn was running back out.

“Jonas told me! He overheard Master and Mistress talking one night.”

Mistress growled and then rushed to hold Winn back, “and what will you do? You can’t exactly destroy this evil now.”

”Stop his heart!” Winn shouted, ignoring Mistress even though she was holding him, “if you stop it briefly, the evil will be subdued.”

Alec’s hand was still pressed firmly against Magnus’s chest, Magnus let out a whimper, “I guess whatever stops his heart will have to be more than true love’s kiss.”

“Lydia!” Izzy called out to the blonde, “you need to do it.”

”What?”

”Now! You’ll have to hit him with a lightning strike.”

Mistress gasped and threw Winn to the ground, rushing over to Izzy and cocking her head to the side, “you need to shut your pretty little face up,” she stabbed Izzy’s neck with her finger nail and the girl cried out.

“Now!” Winn yelled and Lydia threw up her arms and brought down a bolt of lightning towards Alec but he avoided it by stepping to the side.

Master had briefly let go of Magnus and it was enough for him to escape, he ran to Winn and came to a stop.

“I… I can’t do this, he’s… How can we stop his heart?”

”Freeze it,” they both turned when they heard a weak reply. Maia had come out of the Jade Wolf supporting Jonas who was barely able to stand.

“Jonas, no.”

”He’s hurt me enough, what more damage can he do?” Jonas whispered, “I can freeze his heart and it’ll stop, then you just have to… To bring him back from it. If we’re quick enough it’ll work.”

”We need to apprehend those two first,” Magnus leaned in to Jonas and pointed to Master and Mistress who were distracted by Clary and Jace. 

“Raphael’s powers won’t affect Mistress but they can affect him,” Winn began, staring at Master throughout.

“And Clary can wrap her vines around Mistress for a short amount of time, possibly long enough for our plan,” Magnus grinned, he whistled Raphael over and the vampire came to a stop in front of him, they explained the plan and Raphael nodded, running to pass it on to everyone else. Once he had done the round, the group gave each other a nod and it began. 

Clary threw her arms toward Camille, wrapping vines around the vampire’s legs and pulling tight to make a difficult escape. Raphael jumped quickly in front of Master, working hard to Encanto the man. Master tried to fight back with his own abilities but with enough force, Raphael won through. Jace then picked Jonas up from the distance and carried him to Alec who was on his way to Magnus again. Before anything could be said Jonas placed his hand on Alec’s chest and thought hard to battle the heat.

He remembered back to the bank where he had done a similar thing with Alec.

Soon enough he saw the lips change to blue but he kept going, knowing it wasn’t yet enough. As Clary continued to keep Camille enclosed in vines, and everyone else watched to see their plan come through, Alec took a step back and fell to the ground. Motionless, with no heartbeat.


	14. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec recovers from the battle with Magnus's support, meanwhile Winn takes a chance to start a relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS I'M SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG

It was a game of patience. Waiting for Alec. Luke and Maia had apprehended both Master and Mistress and placed them in a secure cell within the labs. Winn had offered to assist Jonas back inside the lab, knowing that right now the boy needed rest, but Jonas refused, saying he wanted to make sure everything was going to be alright. Maia and Luke returned to the scene quickly. Everyone was waiting for Alec. Magnus was sat stroking Alec’s hair, remaining patient. Jace and Izzy knelt either side of Alec wondering how to start his heart again.

”Resuscitate him,” Izzy whispered the orders to Jace, “we’ll have to restart his heart the old fashioned way.”

”Or use the human defibrillator,” Jace glanced over to Lydia.

Lydia hesitated before nodding and walking forward, she knelt down next to Jace and placed her hand on Alec’s chest, “what if… What if it doesn’t work,” she asked, glancing up to Izzy.

”Don’t question it just do it,” Izzy replied.

Lydia pressed her hands over his heart and closed her eyes, “come back to us Alec,” she whispered before using her power to create a force of electricity to send to Alec’s heart. There was one burst of electricity and Alec’s body reacted to the shock, then there was another and Alec’s body twitched again, then a third. Then Lydia sat back and watched cautiously. 

Everyone was silent, watching and waiting.

“His heart is beating,” Raphael whispered, “I can hear it.”

There was a moment of relief between everyone, but there was still tension whilst they waited for movement. 

Alec’s eyes opened suddenly and he shot up for a gasp of air, then before anything could be said he rolled onto his side and gagged, black goo spilled onto the floor from Alec’s mouth. It was as though he was being sick, except it wasn’t sick, just black gunk. 

It continued for a short while, everyone had stepped back in surprise - except for Magnus and Izzy. Magnus quickly began to rub his hand on Alec’s back, hoping it would sooth him through whatever was happening. 

Izzy placed her hand on her brother’s thigh and watch with a sorrowful expression.

Once the wretching had stopped Alec groaned and rolled back onto Magnus’s lap, Magnus pulled him up to a sitting position, “Alec, you’re back.”

Alec grabbed Magnus’s arm quickly and gripped it tight. He looked around the group and let out another grunt, shuffling closer to Magnus, “I’m s-so sorry Magnus.”

Magnus hushed Alec, “don’t apologise darling, we all make mistakes.”

”Alec,” Izzy frowned, “the fire… Was that you or was that the evil?”

”Th-that was me, I’m so sorry… I… Didn’t…”

“You were going through a lot,” Lydia smiled, “it’s fine Alec.”

”Woah, woah,” Winn held out his hands as he spoke, “the guy burnt down his family home, you can’t just… Forgive him. That would be like Jonas forgiving his past boyfriends, they destroyed him,” he glanced to the side where Jonas was stood glaring at him, “You can work towards forgiveness, sure, but there’s no way you can just instantly forgive and forget.”

”I don’t expect you to,” Alec whimpered, “I was a terrible person, I don’t deserve the forgiveness, not straight away.”

Izzy nodded slowly and began to smile, “so… Mom, dad and Max moved in with Hodge for a while. I’m staying with Clary, Jace is staying at Luke’s and…” She looked up to Magnus, “I guess you’ll be staying with Magnus?”

Alec looked over his shoulder to Magnus, “would th-that be okay?”

”Of course,” Magnus grinned, “I mean, you left your phone there anyway. Besides, I haven’t been able to sleep without you.”

Alec gave a quick smile and turned around to kiss Magnus’s cheeks, “can we… Start over?”

”We won’t start over, but let’s work past the bad stuff,” Magnus whispered, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Alec’s.

* * * * * 

Magnus gently placed Alec on his bed and placed a kiss on his forehead, “you should rest Alec, Winn and Maia reckon your body will go through a lot whilst you rid the evil.”

”It’s not finished?”

“It might be, but it might not be,” Magnus sat down on the bed, “don’t worry too much though. I’m sure the changes won’t be too painful or bothering. We can always distract you from the pain if you wish.”

Alec groaned and closed his eyes, “I’m still so sorry for everything.”

”I know,” Magnus nodded, “you wouldn’t stop saying about it on the way here.”

”I just… I burnt down my fa-” he paused suddenly, “Magnus… I took some stuff from my home before burning it, the stuff is still at Sebastian’s place. It’s not much but… What I took means a lot to the family, Izzy’s treasured necklace, Max’s teddy bear, Jace’s trophy, Mom and Dad’s wedding photo, the family photo album and my blanket.”

Magnus nodded slowly, “let’s go there tomorrow then.”

“Promise?”

”Of course,” Magnus kissed Alec’s cheek and placed the covers over him.

“You’re joining me, right?”

”I will in a moment, but I just need to go check on something first,” Magnus whispered, he made his way out of the room and looked at the man sat on his sofa, “what do you want Winn?

”I’m staying here to make sure Alec does you no harm.”

”He’s too weak to cause harm, Winn,” Magnus moved over to the man quickly, “please, let this rest. Let Alec rest.”

“What if he does hurt you, whilst you sleep? And you can’t tell anyone?”

“I would have thought you’d want to be with Jonas right now.”

”Lydia’s with him,” Winn began, “and I don’t exa-”

”He’s your best friend, yet you’re here.”

”One night,” Winn held up a finger, “please, otherwise it’s back to Jonas’s where him and Lydia are probably creating a snow storm,” Magnus cocked his head to the side so Winn sighed, “they’re probably going to do sex things.”

“I doubt it,” Magnus hummed, “Jonas is too weak, like Alec.”

”Ye-”

”Killer Frost,” Magnus clapped his hands together, “in The Flash, same powers as Jonas and she started to change… Become evil. You might want to make sure Jonas does the same!”

”He wo-”

”Alec and I are going to have sex,” Magnus quickly lied.

”Okay! I’ll go stay with Maia again!”

“Thank you Winn.”

“Was this just a ploy to get rid of me?”

”Oh no,” Magnus lied again, “I’m going to fuck Alec so hard that he can’t even think about walking tomorrow.”

”Okay, okay, I’m gone,” Winn jumped up and ran out of the door.

Magnus made his way back into the bedroom with a smile on his face, Alec was curled up on the bed, groaning. On closer inspection, Magnus saw a puddle of what looked like black bile - the same black liquid that Alec had expelled when he had first woken up again. 

“Alec,” he rushed to the man’s side and place a hand on his shoulder, “are you okay dear?”

Alec shook his head and burried it into the pillow, smearing black across the pillowcase as he did. Magnus frowned and placed a kiss on Alec’s temple, “you’ll be better soon,” he pointed his hand towards the puddle on the floor and it was quickly cleaned up. He then moved around the bed and climbed into it, he shuffled closer to Alec and wrapped an arm around him.

Alec relaxed into Magnus’s arms, he didn’t speak, he didn’t need to. He just stayed silent and slowly drifted off to sleep. 

* * * * *

It was a week after the entire incident had died down. After everything that had happened, Izzy had begged for a family meet up, they all deserved to know the truth. They had all decided to meet up at the park, when Max had been born they always went for walks in the park - plus Alec had always chased after the dogs that had been allowed off of their leashes, and he’d play fetch with them as well. Izzy had been petrified of dogs when she was younger, so had Jace. They were both only scared because they had experienced a run in with a neighbours dog and it had growled at them and chased Jace down the road. Now of course, Alec only smiled at the dogs he saw running about and Izzy and Jace had smiled at them as well. It was truly wonderful, being together again after all of the drama that had - unknowingly to their parents - almost ruined their entire family. 

They had gathered for a picnic, and it started off with just gentle family jokes and questions of how everyone was getting on with their lives after the housefire. Alec had explained that he had now moved in with Magnus, since his parents weren’t actually aware of who he was staying with. 

“So,” Izzy picked up a strawberry, “we do have something. Something we all need to say,” she looked at Jace and Alec, “right, boys?”

”Yes,” Jace smiled, Alec nodded with a small smile, still uneasy after his past week of vomitting up black gunk - he only hoped he could hold it back throughout the family day. 

“Recently, we’ve been really busy because… Well, okay I’m just going to say it. We’re superheroes.”

”Former villains,” Alec mumbled.

“What?” Maryse raised an eyebrow.

Max’s face lit up, he looked up at his big sister with a wide smile.

”I’m Mermaid.”

”I knew it!” Max jumped up, “and Jace is Rush, right?”

”That’s right little man,” Jace winked to Max. 

“Alec,” Max turned to the eldest son and cocked his head to the side, “are you…?”

”Flamethrower,” Alec sighed, “I know I’ve been a bad person in the past, Maxxie, but I’m good now, I swear.”

”All the evil is being expelled from his body day by day,” Izzy grinned. 

Maryse pressed her lips together and turned to Robert, “this can’t be real, can it?”

“We’re heroes, mom,” Jace pulled Max onto his lap, “it’s not that hard to believe.”

”I set our house on fire,” Alec admitted suddenly, everyone went silent, Maryse and Robert glared at Alec, “I was miserable, angry and upset, and I destroyed the one thing I needed more than anything.”

“You burnt down the house,” Robert whispered.

“I… I took these first,” he opened his bag and pulled out the posessions that were still kept in his blanket, he pulled out Max’s teddy first and the boy jumped forward to get it. Alec had already given Izzy and Jace their items. He then passed the photo album and the photo of their wedding to his parents, “I’m really sorry…”

”Sorry? That’s all,” Maryse stood up, “sorry for burning down your family home?” She shook her head, “suppose we were still home, we would be dead!”

”I knew nobody was in there,” Alec whimpered.

Maryse shook her head, “you ruined this family, Alexander.”

”M-mom, please.”

”You should go, as far as I’m concerned - this is a family day. You’re not part of this family anymore.”

Alec felt his heartbreak, he looked down at the ground - feeling like a kicked puppy, “okay…” 

Had this happened two weeks ago, Alec would have freaked out and been angry, but now he was only upset. He stood up and walked away. 

Izzy and Jace were stunned into silence, they watched their mother carefully - surprisingly, Max was the first person to speak, “I forgive him.”

“Don’t be so foolish Max,” Maryse scoffed, “that boy… He’s not a member of this family anymore.”

”Mom-”

”Would you like to join him, Isabelle?”

“Honestly, right now, it’s not that bad of an idea,” she sighed and looked down at the ground, “Alec is a good guy.”

Their father still stayed silent. The silence spread over everyone and they only continued their family day in silence.

* * * * * 

“You’re feeling better then,” Winn commented as he held the door open for Jonas.

“A bit, I’ve still got battlescars but I can get over it,” Jonas shrugged.

“I meant about the whole Lydia thing.”

”Oh, that,” Jonas looked down at the ground, “a short break will be for the best. I mean, remember she said she knew Jack Frost was the love of her life, perhaps I am the love of her life,” he paused and turned to Winn, “do you think anybody will know about the whole thing? The superhero thing?”

”Unless they’re geniuses like me, although saying that, I didn’t know about the Jack Frost thing until you told me. So no, I don’t think anybody’s going to be able to tell.”

”Lucky us the fight was over before the press could worm their way in,” Jonas grinned, they approached the counter and Winn leaned forward onto it as he glanced up at the menu, “no queue in a coffee shop, all the luck for us.”

“What are you getting Jojo?”

”There’s no point in me getting a hot drink, so a Frappucino will do fine.”

Winn began to chuckle, “are you ever going to digest hot food again?”

”It depends what my body wants,” Jonas tapped the counter as he looked at Winn.

“Good morning,” a girl came to the counter with a grin covering her face, “what can I get you?”

Winn went to speak, but as he set his eyes on the girl he went silent. Jonas watched his best friend with a raised eyebrow, “oh you’ve got to be kidding me, Winn.”

The girl stepped back slightly and tilted her head, “well, safe to say I’ve never had this reaction before.”

”He’s usually just really flirty, never silent,” Jonas tutted, “can we have a Latte and a Frappuccino please? We’ll be sitting in.”

”Of course,” the girl smiled to Jonas, she turned to make their drinks and Winn suddenly turned to Jonas.

”I’ve completely forgotten why we’re here,” he mumbled.

”Your classic arousal gets in the way of your memory,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “we’re here for a platonic coffee date, Winn. A much needed one after the entire Frosty scenario,” he whispered the last portion of the sentence.

“Oh yeah, right,” he grinned, “I just uh…”

”I can’t believe you,” Jonas shook his head, “you saw the girl behind the counter and froze up - and I didn’t even touch you.”

”Ha,” Winn deadpanned to Jonas, “that was a terrible joke, you need to work on your puns if you’re going to be a good superhero.”

“Shut up,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “so you’ve got a thing for coffee girl.”

”That sounds like a lame superhero,” Winn mumbled, “and honestly Jojo, with my lack of sex life I think I’m pining after everyone I see.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic Winn, how long has it been since you’ve last been with someone?”

”Romantically or sexually?”

Jonas shrugged, “both?”

“Seven years.”

”Seven years?” Jonas looked at him with wide eyes, “was I th-”

”You’re my last sexual and romantic experience Jojo,” Winn admitted almost too loudly - it clearly caught the attention of the girl behind the counter, she had turned around and raised an eyebrow at the pair, to which Winn awkwardly smiled before she turned away again.

“I’m honoured.”

”I’m not!” Winn pouted, “I mean sure that was a really good time but… It’s been so long.”

”You’re such a pathetic man,” Jonas tutted, he then smiled and leaned closer to Winn, “there’ll be someone somewhere.”

”What about you, the dazzling newly single sparkling bisexual?”

“You know, the Lydia thing is still playing on my mind, it hasn’t been that long.”

Winn laughed, “fair enough.”

“I’ll go on a date with you,” the girl behind the counter spoke up as she placed the two drinks in front of them.

“What? Really?”

“Sure, you’re cute, and you’re quite funny too,” she shrugged, “I’m free tonight.”

”S-so am I,” Winn grinned to the girl, “awesome, I’ll pick you up and…”

“I know a bar we can go to, I’ll see how talented you are,” she leaned forward, “I have to say I do love a good singer.”

”Winn’s a great singer,” Jonas quickly supported his friend, he then paid the girl behind the counter. 

“It’s a date then, I’m Kaelie, by the way.”

“Kaelie, nice name, I’ll come by later to pick you up.”

“Six O’clock, no later.”

The pair turned away and Jonas let out a laugh, “man, I don’t need flight to be your wingman, huh?”

”I’m fed up of your superhero puns,” Winn hissed to Jonas.

”You love them really.”

* * * * *

Magnus flinched when he heard the sound of Alec wretching, he rushed through to the bathroom where Alec was hunched over the toilet, “Alexander?”

“Why won’t it stop?” Alec mumbled, his words echoed from the toilet bowl.

“I guess… All of the evil is getting expelled from your body, every last bit,” Magnus crouched down and placed a hand on Alec’s back, “you’re going to be an angel when this is over.”

Alec groaned and blindly reached out to grab one of Magnus’s hands, he eventually managed to find Magnus’s hand and he squeezed tight to him, “this fucking sucks,” he whispered.

“I know,” Magnus smiled to him, “I’ve been in similar situations, only mine was caused by alcohol, not a fun one.”

”This hurts a lot.”

“It’ll stop soon, I promise you.”

Alec groaned, “I hate it.”

“I know baby, I know.”

Alec heaved again and Magnus stayed close to him, Magnus did his best to take away any pain Alec may have felt - but even with his abilities he was certain he couldn’t truly help Alec. He wondered if there was somone who did have the abilities to help him, the amount of people out there with abilities was an amazing out, so perhaps there was someone.

“Magnus Bane!” A voice called out, Magnus knew it instantly, he looked up towards the door.

“In here!” He called out to his friend.

She appeared in the doorway, hair falling way past her shoulders and a bright grin present on her face. Dorothea, “in time as well it seems, what’s ailing the boy?”

”A lot of stuff has happened, basically, everything evil is being expelled from his body.”

“Ouch,” she looked at the boy, “can’t your magic skills help him out?”

“I’ve tried, but it’s nothing I can help with.”

Alec curled up against Magnus and kept his eyes closed, “I have too much evil in me.”

”Not for much longer,” Dot pleasently smiled to him and crouched down, she placed one hand on his head and one on his heart, she closed her eyes and in an instant - the colour came back to Alec’s face, “you’ll be well again, and good.”

“Really? It’s over?”

”Well now, I can’t guarantee that,” Dot shrugged and let out a quick laugh, “you won’t be heaving as often at the very least. Hopefully you’ll be strong and well again in no time!”

Alec sat up and smiled at the kind woman, “you’ve got powers too?”

”To heal, myself and others - I mostly use it on the latter.”

“There are more people like us in the world than you realise,” Magnus ran his hands through Alec’s hair.

“It’s just all left to discover,” Dot continued for Magnus, she smiled to the boy brightly, “anyway,” she looked to Magnus, “I came over to see if you wanted to join me tonight, at the Karaoke bar? I’m in need of a sing song.”

Magnus looked to Alec who seemed curious about the invitation, he nodded quickly to Magnus and Magnus then accepted the offer, “I’d love to come Dot, in fact I’m sure I can invite a few friends as well!”

“Awesome, so, me and you are definitely jamming out to a Queen song, right?”

”Of course,” Magnus raised his eyebrows to Dot, “and as always, I’ll be the best.”

”Oh quit it Mag,” Dot laughed loudly, “you’re always terrified of losing to me.”


	15. A Man of Melody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another surge causes more superpowers emerging among humans, the group learn that someone close to them has been affected this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a hint to the powers developed in this chapter, this plot was inspired by Jeremy Jordan singing. 
> 
> Check out my new OC page on Tumblr: http://aelclightwood.tumblr.com/ocs

What happened after six o’clock was nothing new to Maia or Luke, the low rumble that would be unheard by the majority of the city. She glared at Luke in realisation, last time that happened - it was not a good sign.

* * * * *

Magnus and Dot had just finished their battle of ‘I Want It All’ by Queen, and Alec had found it very entertaining to see. Jonas had also joined their table, claiming he wanted to be present at the bar but didn’t want to crash Winn’s date. Speaking of which, Winn proudly jumped onto the stage next, prepared to sing a rendition of ‘High and Dry’, it was no secret to Winn that Jonas loved his voice so of course he was paying close attention when the song began.

_Two jumps in a week_  
_I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you boy?_  
_Flying on your motorcycle_  
_Watching all the ground beneath you drop_

_Kill yourself for recognition_  
_Kill yourself to never ever stop_  
_You broke another mirro_ r  
_You're turning into something you are not_

At that point Magnus turned his head suddenly to Jonas, Alec, and Dot, “do you hear that?”

Just below the song, there was a faint rumbling sound, Jonas nodded but to stop Magnus from his worry gave a careless suggestion, “perhaps it’s a bad track.”

”Why do you look so worried?” Alec whispered to Magnus.

”Because last time there was a rumble…” He looked to Alec, “things got a bit heated for you,” he spoke in code knowing that someone might listen in. 

All the while, Winn was still singing.

_Don't leave me high_  
_Don't leave me dry_  
_Don't leave me high_  
_Don't leave me dry_

_Drying up in conversation_  
_You will be the one who cannot talk_  
_All your insides fall to pieces_  
_You just sit there wishing you could still make love_

_They're the ones who'll hate you_  
_When you think you've got the world all sussed out_  
_They're the once who'll spit at you_  
_You'll be the one screaming out_

“You mean…” Jonas leaned closer.

“It was the rumble before the surge,” Magnus admitted.

* * * * *

Maia and Luke rushed through the labs to the core, “I don’t get it,” Maia hissed, “we haven’t been doing anything in here, why does it feel the need to-”

”It’s the power generator, Maia, and apparently it works for both electric and superhuman powers.”

”Maybe I’ll get lucky this time,” Maia grumbled as she looked to the generator.

“You don’t want that.”

“At least life won’t be boring,” Maia turned in excitement, “bring on the new villains!”

”Are you insane?”

”Somewhat,” she paused, “we should clear here, I think it’s about to release the surge.”

* * * * *

“What do we do?” Alec whispered to Magnus, “let it happen.”

”There’s nothing else we can do,” Magnus admitted.

_Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry  
Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry_

_It's the best thing that you ever had,  
The best thing that you ever, ever--_

The surge hit and Winn, as well as numerous other people in the bar, fell to the ground. Magnus, Alec, and Dot rushed to help various people whilst Jonas ran directly to Winn. He helped his friend up and gave him a look of worry.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Y-yeah,” Winn nodded, “what even… What was that?”

”It was a surge, like the one that caused my powers,” Alec approached the boys, “which means there could be more heroes ready to emerge any time soon.”

Winn glanced around and nodded over to Kaelie who was nervously sitting up from the floor, Jonas let his friend rush over to her. 

Winn smiled politely to Kaelie, “are you okay?”

Kaelie held her hand to her forehead, “I think so, what was that?”

”Some kind of earthquake,” Winn answered quickly, he helped Kaelie onto her feet.

“I’ve never seen one like that, it was more like a pulse than a quake.”

“Well, then it was an earth pulse,” Winn gently laughed.

Kaelie smiled back to Winn and looked him in the eyes, “what was it really?”

Winn felt a switch, he stared back into Kaelie’s eyes, “it was a surge, the same surge that created superheroes last time.”

“Again?”

Winn nodded and then looked over to Jonas, he turned to Kaelie again, “so… do we continue the date as normal? Or?”

”Honestly, I think I could do with a rest,” she replied in an obviously tired tone, “you can come over if you want.”

”Really?”

Kaelie nodded and smiled to Winn, “of course.”

* * * * *

There was calm for a few days after the surge, no new heroes emerging - thank God. Of course, the group knew that before a storm there was calm. That was the most worrying thing, they were just waiting for something to happen - for someone to show up.

Winn was sat in the lab watching as members of the team discussed the currently boring state of things, they had mentioned that it seemed like nobody had new abilities but Winn had to disagree.

“Kaelie got out of a speeding ticket earlier,” he threw a small ball into the air and caught it again, “she convinced the cop that she was an undercover officer, and just like that he believed her.”

“Much less Tempest, more Temptress,” Lydia rolled her eyes, “the girl looks good, anybody would be lucky to bang her - of course a cop is going to let her off!”

“You haven’t met her, so you don't know what she looks like,” Winn narrowed his eyes at Lydia.

“I showed her a photo,” Jonas admitted, “like I wasn’t going to gossip about your girlfriend.”

“Oh so you’re best buddies again,” Winn rolled his eyes, “besides, Kaelie told the guy she was an undercover officer, no cop would believe that on a whim. I think she has abilities.”

“To make people believe she’s an undercover cop?”

“Persuasion, I know there’s been times where she’s managed to get me to tell the truth. Kaelie is more than human-”

”You’ve known she can make you speak the truth and you didn’t tell me?” Jonas glared at Winn.

“Calm down,” Winn held out a hand to Jonas, “I didn’t tell anyone, well Kaelie told her friend Meliorn, but other than Mel - nobody else knows.”

”We do,” Maia cocked her head at Winn.

“You’re harbouring a super,” Jonas crossed his arms, “bad Winn, you’re not the Winn I knew.”

Winn rolled his eyes, “shut it Jojo, I’ll always be your Winn.”

Jonas smiled briefly to Winn and then turned to Lydia, “maybe we should talk to Kaelie, befriend her.”

”No,” Winn threw out his hand again, “no, no, nope, if Kaelie knows I told you about her abilities, she’ll dump me,” whilst he spoke, Winn began to hear a piano being played.

“Oh what does it even matter Winn, you’re already a renowned science dork among the locals,” Jonas rolled his eyes and in the next second, he began to sing with the music.

_Baby all the lights are turned on you_  
_Now you're in the center of the stage_  
_Ev'rything revolves on what you do_  
_Ah, you are in your prime_  
_You've come of age_  
_You can always have your way somehow_  
_'Cause ev'rybody loves you now_

_You can walk away from your mistakes_  
_You can turn your back on what you do_  
_Just a little smile is all it takes_  
_And you can have your cake and eat it too_  
_Loneliness will get to you somehow_  
_But ev'rybody loves you now_

Winn withdrew his hand and the music stopped, Lydia, Maia and the others stared at Jonas, “what the hell just happened?” Jonas looked around - clearly confused by it.

Winn pulled a face and looked at his hand as Maia spoke, “you broke into a musical number, this isn’t RENT, Danny Dorko.”

“I didn’t mean to, I don’t know what happened,” he turned to Winn, “Winn… Do you know?”

”I don’t know but,” he hesitated and held out hand to Jonas again.

_Ah, they all want your body_  
_And they await your reply_  
_Ah, but between you and me and the_  
_Staten Island ferry_  
_So do I_

Winn pulled his hand back once again as Jonas covered his mouth, “I’m a conductor!”

“Christ,” Jonas covered his eyes, “this can’t go well, Winn with powers - this is going to end up… really bad.”

”Shut up Jojo, I am the music man,” Winn held up his arms, “this is like…”

”The lamest power,” Maia rolled her eyes, “look at me, I make people sing and dance.”

“Hey,” Winn glared at Maia, “Jojo just admitted his crush on me through song, imagine the secrets that might be revealed!” 

“I did no-” Jonas awkwardly spoke up, he turned to Lydia, “okay maybe I did, but that doesn’t matter!”

“I have to tell Kaelie,” Winn chuckled and jumped up from the seat, he rushed past the friends and ignored their protests.

* * * * *

“Try again,” Magnus whispered to Alec.

Alec flicked out his hands, once, twice, and on the third time flames ignited - however they weren’t red, nor orange, nor yellow, not even blue… The flame was white. 

Magnus smiled to Alec as the boy stared at the flame, “that’s different,” Alec looked into Magnus’s eyes, “Alexander,” Magnus continued as the flame disappeared, “I believe your powers have purified.”

Alec had a small smile on his face, “cool, so…”

Magnus didn’t let Alec continue his words, instead he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Alec’s lips, a much needed one. He cupped Alec’s cheek and after a moment of kissing he pressed his forehead against Alec’s, “you know, I really do love you.”

”I love you too,” Alec replied quickly, “hey,” he let out a laugh, “I’m clear of all evil, right?”

”Right.”

”I’m living proof that being gay isn’t a sin,” he had a bright smile on his face, he grabbed Magnus’s hands and placed them around his waist, “I can prove it even more if you want.”

“Oh?”

Alec nodded and placed several kisses along Magnus’s jaw, he moved to Magnus’s neck and was overjoyed when he felt Magnus’s body shiver at the touch, “we can move to the bedroom,” he whispered, “it’ll be comfier.”

Magnus went to agree but in the next instant his phone began to ring, he answered the call, with Alec still embracing him, “hello?”

”We’ve got new supers,” Maia’s voice hissed out suddenly.

“Well that was bound to happen, any evil doing so far?”

”Winn made me sing!” Jonas’s voice was heard in the background.

”It’s true,” Maia shrugged, “somehow Winn had the ability to make Jonas break out into song.”

“Threatening,” Magnus rolled his eyes as he spoke I an obviously sarcastic tone.

“His girlfriend, Kaelie, has some ability too according to Winn, she managed to make a cop believe she was on an undercover mission to get out of a speeding ticket.”

“So Winn’s girlfriend has Persuasion,” Magnus raised an eyebrow, “and Winn works well with percussion?”

Alec let out a small laugh at the thought of persuasion and percussion working together, he nuzzled against Magnus’s neck playfully as Magnus continued his conversation.

“Alright, well, we all know that harnessing powers can cause some people to take advantage,” he made a point of looking at Alec as the taller boy pulled back momentarily, “so keep a close eye on him.”

”Winn is a good person,” Jonas defended in the background of the phone call, “he’s practically and angel, there’s no way he’d use his powers for bad.”

* * * * * 

“You know Meliorn?” Kaelie grinned to Winn, “well, he’s had some… skills for a short while now. He can selectively freeze time. It’s like pressing pause on people, but if he wants, he can keep people moving with him - for instance, he can keep me moving with him whilst others are frozen.”

”Wow,” Winn let out a small laugh, “so has he ever used his powers for anything?”

“Not yet,” Kaelie whispered, “but I was thinking,” she leaned forward to Winn, “there are these people… A gang. They’re responsible for my brother’s death,” she stood up straight and crossed her arms, “I think I’d like to get revenge.”

“Revenge? That sounds pretty negative, I mean like- maybe payback, or-”

“I want to kill them, Winn,” Kaelie admitted, “I’ve wanted to since it happened.”

”Oh, kill? Can’t we just… imprison them? I mean I’m sure Warlock could take him down, I’ve got friends, I can-”

“Winn!” Kaelie grabbed his shoulders, “look, I know you’re positive do-gooder, but… THere must be someone, one person in the world you want dead.”

Winn nodded, “Mr. Blobby.”

Kaelie pulled a face at Winn who was staring into space, “who?”

”Big pink monster with yellow spots,” he shook his head, “lord alive, Kaelie, I spent so many nights crying because of Mr. Blobby.”

Kaelie giggled and quickly pressed a kiss on Winn’s cheek, “you’re so precious,” she flashed him a genuine smile, “you’re intelligent, good at finding people I hear.”

”From who?”

”You,” Kaelie laughed, “numerous times, ‘did I ever tell you that I found Jonas here without him even telling me. I found his place and all, I’m a genius.’ I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told me about it.”

“I’m good at finding, if I was in Finding Nemo the movie would be done in five minutes.”

“If I give you a name,” she whispered, “can you help me find the people responsible?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him and leaned closer to him, she ran her hands down the front of his shirt and fiddled with the hem. She let out a giggle and hovered close to his face teasing a kiss, “of course I’ll totally make it worth your time.”

”All the time with you is worth my time,” Winn whispered to Kaelie and then moved in for a kiss. Kaelie smiled into it and made sure to press her body against Winn’s, once again teasing. It wasn’t long until Winn was pushed down onto Kaelie’s couch with her on his lap, he placed his hands on her waist and after a moment he slowly slipped his hands underneath her shirt to her bare skin. 

“So, it that a yes?” Kaelie mumbled against Winn’s lips.

“Yes, yes, I’ll help you.”

“And that’s why you’re my boyfriend,” Kaelie let out a giggle and pressed her forehead against Winn’s, “perhaps along the way… We’ll raise a little hell, will you be okay with that, baby?”

Winn shared another kiss with Kaelie before answering, “yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME:  
> A new threat evolves in Brooklyn and Jace makes the hard discovery.


	16. Raising Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat appears in Brooklyn and the team are taken aback by the news of who it is.

Winn tracked the gang Kaelie had mentioned, she kept a close eye on them. She followed them almost every day, and finally one day she managed to get one of them alone. She didn’t tell Winn the full story, he knew she had managed to ‘rid of him’, Winn chose not to question it too much. Or perhaps Kaelie had told him not to question it. 

Another day, Kaelie came back, proud to say she managed to rid of another two, Winn had seen her hand slipped into her bag, she was hiding something. She simply smiled and asked him not to question it again, and he didn’t. Perhaps Kaelie was using her persuasion to hide the truth from Winn, but he was somewhat in love with the girl so he didn’t let it phase him.

Of course, the day Kaelie and Meliorn entered Kaelie’s apartment with Kaelie in a blood stained shirt, Winn became curious. He approached his girlfriend curiously hoping she wasn’t injured.

“Don’t distract me this time, don’t ask me not to question it. What happened?”

Kaelie looked Winn in the eyes and sighed, “alright just… don’t freak out?”

”Sure… Are you persuading me to not freak out?”

”Kind of,” Kaelie then looked away quickly, “alright, well… All of the gang has been dealt with, they needn’t be worried about now.”

”You gave them a good talking to?” Winn asked with a hopeful raise of his eyebrows.

Kaelie and Meliorn stared at Winn, and Meliorn then looked to the blood stain on Kaelie’s shirt, “uh, yeah,” Meliorn pulled a face, “she definitely just gave them a good talking to.”

“I’ll be honest Winn,” Kaelie waved a hand to her boyfriend, “I killed them.”

Winn went wideeyed and then looked around the room, “uh… did anyone see you?”

”No,” Meliorn laughed, “I stopped time before she went through with each murder. No cameras would have picked anything up. We’ll be clear from suspicion.”

Winn stared at the both momentarily before beginning to smile, “alright, fine, uh…” He looked at Kaelie, “you killed someone…”

”Murderers, remember they killed my brother.”

“Right, killing the wrong doers,” he nodded and then smiled at Kaelie.

“Please forgive me,” Kaelie looked into Winn’s eyes and pouted, “I really like you… I don’t want to lose you because I did what I had to do.”

”Right, right,” he flashed a smile, “I forgive you, you did what you had to.”

“Thank you,” Kaelie broke out into a smile and wrapped her arms around Winn.

* * * * * 

Jace loved that he had been able to lay low, without any major attacks happening he could be at ease. He could take his quiet walks through the city and watch as the people walked by, clueless that he was Rush.

He was clueless when the world around him literally came to a stop, the cars stopped moving, the people froze. Even a cat was still in midair as it jumped down from a wall. He knew something was definitely wrong, in the silence of the world he could hear whispers.

He slowly approached the sound and stopped by the corner of an alley.

“Look! I’m sorry! I swear I didn’t want it to-”

”You killed him,” a girl snapped, “an eye for an eye.”

Jace heard multiple gunshots and then speaking again.

”You got a bit sloppy with that one,” a male spoke calmly.

“He was the one that started it all,” the woman replied she let out a sigh and then Jace heard her footsteps approaching the end of the alley, he couldn’t use his speed in the current state for some reason so instead he moved to the middle of the sidewalk, pulled out his phone and held it to his ear. He pretended to be frozen whilst looking forward to the alley to see whoever had fired the gun. He stayed still and saw Kaelie appear from the alley with a man who wasn’t Winn, he had long hair. Kaelie’s shirt was splattered with blood and she pointed to it as she stopped.

”Winn’s gonna see this.”

”So use your persuasion,” the man rolled his eyes, “the man is head over heels in love with you anyway.”

Kaelie laughed, “true, he is, but even more so with Jonas.”

”Oh?”

Kaelie and the man walked past Jace, but Jace continued to listen.

“He talks about Jonas a lot, and it’s clear he’s hiding some feelings for the boy… But he still loves me, and I think I love him too.”

The pair eventually moved out of earshot and then the world began to move again, the sound all came back to the world and the cat had landed on all fours. Jace looked around hoping he might be able to see the pair but they had gone. He immediately made his way to the alley and inspected the area, as expected a man had been shot and he was lying dead on the ground. Without questioning, he left the body and made his way to the lab where Maia was taken by surprise.

“Alright speedy,” she laughed as she welcomed Jace with a high five, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

”I didn’t, but… I think I kind of witnessed a murder.” 

“Really?” Maia’s smile dropped and she rushed over to him.

Jace nodded, “and… Someone has the ability to freeze time,” he looked around curiously, “but it didn’t affect me!”

“What?”

”It’s like… Everything around me stopped,” he pressed his lips together, “there was even a cat in mid-air… I… I stayed still when I knew the people were moving towards me,” he let out a sigh, “and… Kaelie was one of them.”

”Winn’s Kaelie?”

“Yeah.”

“We should warn him…”

”It sounded like she was getting revenge, she said ‘an eye for an eye’,” Jace rubbed his eyes and loudly sighed, “for all we know, Winn could already be aware of it all.”

“You’re right…”

* * * * *

Alec loved to wake up before Magnus, because he could wake Magnus up with his kisses. He pressed kisses along Magnus’s shoulder and then slowly moved lower to place kisses on his chest. He then listened gleefully as Magnus woke up.

“Morning hot stuff,” Magnus whispered, Alec let out a laugh.

“I need some morning cuddles,” Alec replied and wrapped his arms around Magnus, he nuzzled against Magnus’s neck and smiled.

“And morning cuddles you shall get,” Magnus playfully responded and held Alec close, “would you like to go on a date today? Coffee?”

”Yeah,” Alec replied, “that’d be nice.”

“Perfect.”

”I love you Magnus.”

“I love you more.”

”That’s a lie!”

”No, it’s not.”

Alec laughed, “sure,” he gave Magnus a kiss on the lips and grinned, “you’re so gorgeous in the morning.”

“As opposed to the rest of the day.”

”You’re fucking beautiful all the time.”

”I’m not going to argue with that.”

Another kiss was shared, and another, and another, Alec gave in and began running his tongue across Magnus’s lower lip. It was nothing new for them, but it still felt so fresh. Magnus tugged Alec closer so he was straddling him. He always wanted more of Alec, it was no lie - there was never enough for him. He loved the way Alec naturally began to move his hips, and it instantly aroused him, their bodies could move together perfectly. 

This morning, of course, they’d be interrupted. Alec’s phone began to ring and Magnus quickly answered it.

“Of course you’re with Alec,” Jace grumbled down the phone, “can you two come to the lab? We’re getting everyone here… It’s very important.”

”Very important? How so?”

”It just… Please just come?”

”Of course,” Magnus sighed, “pick us up in five minutes?”

”Will do.”

The phone call ended and Magnus let out a sigh as he turned to Alec, “sometimes I hate being a superhero.”

”Same,” Alec whispered.

* * * * * 

At the lab, as promised, everyone was gathered. Jace watched Winn cautiously, the man seemed more focused on his phone than the current conversation. Finally Maia broke the chatter to change the topic.

”Okay, matters arising!” She stood proud and centre and looked at Winn as he put his phone down, “we have an issue.”

Winn raised his eyebrows and began to smile, “don’t we always.”

”Somebody has been committing murders,” Maia didn’t want to give away that she and Jace knew the truth too soon, perhaps she could noticed a change in Winn’s face.

“Are you accusing one of us?” Winn asked, “because you’re giving me a very poignant look. You think I made them sing and dance to death? No I prefer using my powers on random strangers in the mall. People love flashmobs.”

”We need to find out who it is,” Maia glanced away from Winn as she crossed her arms, “although, we do have some leads.”

Jace nodded and stepped forward, “I believe someone is capable of stopping time.”

Winn didn’t make eye contact with anyone, he stared forward clearly focusing on not letting his expression change. Maia watched him cautiously.

“However,” Jace also began to look at Winn, “I believe that Kaelie was the one that committed the murder.”

Now all of the team had turned to Winn and he leaned back in his seat, he gave them all a small smile and then stood up, “you know what, the guy she killed was responsible for her brother’s death, so I forgive her.”

”You knew,” Maia glared at him.

Jonas didn’t seem to believe what he was hearing, he shook his head at Winn and then began to whimper, “Winn… You don’t really mean that do you?”

Winn looked at Jonas and his expression softened, “I really like her, and she likes me, she’s doing what’s right.”

“Don’t believe that, people don’t necessarily deserve to die.”

”The people she’s killed are murderers,” Winn hissed, “they do deserve it,” he glared at the team and then made his way out of the lab, “you have no proof,” he yelled back, “so have fun!”

Jonas let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes, “this isn’t like Winn, I swear.”

”We know,” Clary offered Jonas a smile, “we’ll get him back Jonas, I mean we got Alec to be good.”

”It fucking hurt,” Alec commented, “but I’m like the purest soul now.”

”Not in bed,” Magnus whispered to Lydia, the blonde began to laugh quietly. 

* * * * *

Winn was met by Kaelie and Meliorn outside, the trio began to walk away from the lab and Winn explained how frustrating it had been.

”They all think you’re evil, and I mean, you’re not! You’re doing it for good!”

“We all have people we want dead,” Meliorn noted to Winn.

“I’m beginning to wish that on some of them,” Winn admitted, her then paused and shook his head, “no, I don’t… They’re my friends.”

”Your friends who think I’m evil.”

”That’s true,” Winn nodded.

The trio began to talk about other things, such as Winn’s friendship with Jonas. Kaelie had joked about Winn having a crush but Winn laughed it off. It felt somewhat ordinary, until the sight of police caught Winn’s attention, at first he worried it might be for them but when he saw the person they were arresting his blood began to boil. 

Jonas’s bastard ex, Isaac.

“I do want someone dead,” he hissed out, “him.”

A song began to play and Winn was more than happy to sing. In his power ran rendition the words were altered to his situation, and it felt great for him to sing the words he did.

_I can't take no more of this  
This nightmare has to end  
In this God forsaken place  
Death would be a welcome friend_

He sang in a cocky tone, knowing that it would be far better for Isaac to be dead than slowly suffering. He began to grin and in that moment he felt like a true villain.

_I could pay a crooked guard to kill him  
Yeah that's it  
Better that than sixteen years  
Dyin' slowly bit by bit_

He flicked his hand towards Isaac who was currently resisting arrest and the man began to sing.

_All I did was rob a few stores  
Justice here don't fit the crime_

With a laugh, Winn jumped onto a low wall as he watched the police apprehend Isaac.

_I've been broken by the Devil  
Justice is a waste of time  
I won't get to heaven  
Why not raise a little Hell?_

The music seemed to dim down for a bit, Kaelie smiled as she thought about Winn’s words. She led them into an empty space, “he’ll be taken to the local jail,” she crossed her arms, “the guards will stop you,” she looked to Meliorn, “if they’re actually able to register time itself.”

Meliorn smiled and nodded, “that’s it, I’ll stop time… You go in there and rid of him.”

”Right,” Winn smiled, “how do I do it?”

”Shoot him,” Kaelie whispered, she opened her satchel and let Winn look inside where she was keeping a gun, “right in the head.”

”Perfect,” Winn whispered. He took the gun from Kaelie and then continued his song.

_He'll see me but it's the last time  
That filthy scum has gotta go  
By tonight it will be over  
When I strike the fatal blow_

With his last line he playfully pointed the gun at Meliorn and then pushed it into his jeans, pulling his shirt over the top so people wouldn’t see as he walked past. They quickly made their way to the jail. The thought of murdering Isaac was playing on Winn’s mind and he couldn’t take the smile off of his face.

_No way out I gotta do this  
Him or me, okay let's play  
Never killed but now I have to oh  
Time to make that bastard pay ___

__As they reached their destination outside of the jail, Meliorn waved his hands and the world came to a stop._ _

__“Go do what you have to do,” Kaelie whispered directly into Winn’s ear. He walked into the jail where each police officer was froze, he walked with ease through to the cells where a police officer had just pushed Isaac into a cell._ _

___I won't get to Heaven  
Why not raise a little Hell?  
No way I'll see Heaven_

He lifted the gun slowly and aimed at Isaac’s head, he had always wanted Isaac to get what he deserved, and now he was.

_So let's raise a little Hell!_

Hearing the final chord of the music he pulled the trigger and grinned at the sight he had created. The bullet had gone through Isaac’s head and Winn was glad to see the hold form, he wouldn’t see the wound form but he knew that Isaac would be dead. He ran from the police station with pride and passed the gun back to Kaelie before Meliorn brought the world back to normal again.

* * * * *

When members of the team in the lab froze, Jace was aware something was happening, he was glad to see he wasn’t the only one that could still move, Raphael and Simon were curiously looking around - they must have been with each other the other times.

“That guy has frozen time again,” Jace whispered, “we have to find them!”

”Without our speed,” Raphael grumbled, “fun.”

”We’ll just have to run like normal humans, we’re looking for Kaelie and someone, right?” Simon shrugged.

”Or just whoever is moving throughout this pause,” Jace spoke quickly, the trio left the lab an began their search. It wasn’t long until they turned a corner to see Kaelie and a man they didn’t know stood outside a police station. Winn came out of the station and they watched as he handed a gun to Kaelie, then the man waved his hands and the world was set in motion.

“What did we miss,” Raphael whispered.

Jace held up a finger and with his super speed he ran into the jail to investigate the scene, and then he came out again, “I think Winn killed someone,” he looked extremely worried, “that…”

”That escalated quickly,” Simon continued Jace’s sentence, “great,” he whispered, “we have to sort this out.”

”Jonas is going to be so upset,” Raphael showed concern for the boy, he frowned. He turned to Jace, “what do we do now?”

“We go back and tell the team,” Jace quickly replied, “and then we’ll figure out how to put a stop to it, to get Winn back.”

“Alright,” Simon nodded, “let’s go.”

The trio sped off to the lab, this time able to use their speed, they arrived to the other members of the team looking confused, “where were you?” Izzy demanded, “I know you guys are fast but… you literally just disappeared, why?”

”Time stopped,” Jace held out a hand, hoping the members of the team would keep quiet as he explained, “we left to investigate because we were able to move through the paused world,” he looked at Jonas who was watching curiously, “we think Winn killed somebody.”

Jonas’s eye grew wide and he shook his head, “no, that’s stupid.”

“He handed a gun to Kaelie,” Simon hissed, “after coming out of the police station!”

Jonas continued to shake his head, “no, that’s not Winn.”

”I went in and checked… Some guy was shot in the head, I don’t know who he was.”

Maia made her way to her computer and began to type whilst the boys continued to explain.

“I know it’s not like Winn,” Jace spoke gently as he approached Jonas, “we’re going to sort it out.”

“Isaac Matthews,” Maia spoke, not looking away from the screen. 

Jonas froze in his place and didn’t seemed to even blink when he heard the name, Lydia looked at Jonas and cocked her head, “Jonas,” she spoke quietly, “is that… The Isaac you told me about?”

Jonas covered his face briefly and then looked around, his focus landed on Jace, “you’re right,” he whispered, “Winn killed him. I never told Winn what happened between Isaac and me but… He knew, and back in Ohio he got his brother to beat Isaac up. I think, if he’s not thinking straight he would be capable of killing him.”

”Apparently Isaac sang when the police were arresting him,” Maia raised her eyebrows as she read the article.

Jonas felt his lip quiver, “God damn it Winn.”

* * * * *

Winn fell down onto Kaelie’s bed and stared up at the ceiling, his mind was a mess, the thought of Isaac dying replaying in his head and then the thought of Jonas finding out. Jonas would be hurt, but perhaps he might also be joyed, Isaac was dead, he needn’t worry about the pain Isaac caused.

He closed his eyes and after moment he felt the bed beside him dip, a hand was placed on his chest, “are you okay honey?”

”I killed someone,” Winn replied quietly, “I mean he deserved it but… I can’t believe I did it.”

“You’re a hero Winn, what type of hero wouldn’t rid of an asshole like him, huh?”

Winn nodded, “yeah, you’re right.”

”I know.”

“Well, well,” Meliorn cheered as he came into the room, “everyone is questioning how Isaac Mathews was killed within a split second,” he let out a laugh, “the news is loving this.”

“I’m loving it too,” Kaelie laughed as she looked over to Meliorn, “and I think Winn is too,” she smiled down to him as he opened his eyes.

He answered with a nod and tried to smile, “do you think Jonas will be upset with me?”

“You killed his abuser,” Kaelie glared at Winn, “why would he hate you?”

”I just… I don’t know.”

”Stop worrying about it,” Kaelie whispered, looking straight into Winn’s eyes, “if he doesn’t like what you’ve done then he’s an ungrateful bastard.”

Winn began to smile, “you’re right, sorry.”

“Stop apologising,” Kaelie flicked her hair and and let out a laugh, “no true hero nor villain would apologise.”

“I have an idea,” Meliorn looked at the pair in thought, “why don’t we… Go on a little shopping trip.”

Winn raised an eyebrow, “oh, I don’t really have any money.”

Meliorn laughed, “who needs money when you can stop time?”

“You want to steal?”

”We won’t be found out,” Kaelie shrugged, “come on babe, it’ll be fun. Plus, I kind of want a new dress or two, you can help me pick if you want,” she winked.

Winn sat up and let out a small laugh, “alright, let’s go.”

* * * * * 

The team opted to Head back to their places of work, Jace and Jonas went to Lydia’s store to keep her company, Alec had opted to join Magnus at the bookstore and Izzy joined Clary at her mother’s shop. Jocelyn was now aware that her daughter was in fact Envy, and of course she had begged Clary to keep the plants in the shop alive. 

Jonas and Lydia were talking at the counter of Lydia’s shop, Jace was in the backroom in his own world. He was listening to music through earphones so he was ignorant to their conversation.

“On a scale of one to ten,” Jonas began curiously, “how attractive would you say Jace is?”

”Oh, definitely a solid ten,” Lydia answered with nod, “I’d fuck him.”

“Same,” Jonas laughed softly, he looked at Lydia and put on a smile, “I like this, having a casual conversation with you.”

“I do too,” Lydia sighed as she leaned forward on the counter, “I think I prefer it to… our romance.”

Jonas nodded, “just friends?”

”Of course!”

Lydia cocked her head, “do you hear music?”

”I think it’s Jace,” Jonas replied absentmindedly. 

“Oh my God, what the hell?” Lydia exclaimed as she looked at the mess that had appeared. All of the masks that had been placed on their shelves where scatted across the floor.

Jonas was wideeyed, “fuck,” he whispered, “Winn’s friend?”

”I imagine so.”

_I’m not sorry/I >_

_“That’s Winn,” Jonas whispered, Lydia ran out of the store whilst Jonas ran to grab Jace’s attention, “I think we have a problem,” Jonas led Jace out of the store and sure enough, Winn, Kaelie, and their friend were stood on the edge fountain so they were higher than the crowd. They were wearing clothes that seemed to make them stand out from the crowd as well as masks that had been taken from Lydia’s store. Winn made poignant eye contact with Jonas as he reached the crowd._

__I’m not sorry, sorry_ _

_Other members of the team began to gather, Clary crossed her arms, “so it was them that wrecked our store, I’m really getting fed up of it.”_

_”The bookstore was attacked too,” Alec grumbled._

_“And my store,” Lydia crossed her arms, they then turned back as though they were watching an actual performance._

__Walking through the club I felt your shadow on the wall_   
_Think I’m catching up, think we’ve got a date with destiny_   
_I bet your shadow’d rather follow me_ _

_Winn let out a laugh and held out a hand to Jonas, “come on Jojo, you know this one.”_

_And on command, Jonas sang._

__Dancing through the night you felt me breathing down your neck_ _

_Not on his own command, he found himself walking towards the trio, Kaelie and the other were grinning but Winn maintained eye contact with Jonas._

__Taught me how to fight, guess I learned a trick or two or three_ _

_He lifted his head and gave a challenging expression to Winn, it hurt knowing that Winn would use his powers against him._

__I keep them hidden up my sleeve, I hate to break it to you_ _

_And then Winn began to sing again, anger and frustration on his face but in his eyes Jonas could swear he saw a glimpse of sorrow._

__I’m not sorry, sorry_   
_For the person I’ve become_   
_I’m not sorry, sorry_   
_I don’t live under your thumb_   
_It’s time to stand aside_   
_You can’t take the best of me_   
_I hate to break it, hate to break you, hate to break it to you_ _

_Surprisingly, Kaelie sang the next lines as she glared at Jonas._

__I’m not sorry_   
_I’m not sorry, sorry_ _

_The song faded to an end and the clueless crowd applauded._

_Winn jumped down from the fountain edge and walked closer to Jonas, “promise me, Jojo, that you’ll stay out of whatever happens next.”_

_”No,” Jonas replied, “you’re my best friend, I need to get you back.”_

_”Oh shut up,” Kaelie snapped, “come on Winn, we’ve got some business to plan,” she picked up a duffel bag that had been sat by her feet._

_Winn tried to smile at Jonas, “please,” he then turned and followed his two companions_

_”She’s destroying you,” Jonas yelled as they ran off._

_”Want us to chase them?” Jace asked as he came to a stop by Jonas._

_“No,” Jonas shook his head, “they’re coming with a plan, perhaps we should too.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried when I wrote the next chapter by the way.


	17. Don't Die, Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn warns the team of what's to come in a change of heart. Jace and Jonas make sure that their team is prepared for the upcoming event.   
> _Before you, life was black and white, thought tonight the room's gone gray_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want full emotions, the song used in this chapter is The Love I Meant To Say from Smash, you can give it a listen whilst the scene plays out if you want! Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrNiina93n8

Winn could feel himself changing and he didn’t like it, he missed being loyal and joking around with Jonas. As Kaelie and Meliorn discussed their ideas of robbing a bank -because that was known to go well, why rob for money when they could take the clothes off of the shelves with nobody knowing? - he thought perhaps he’d be able to trick them, go along with the plan but at some point he could switch sides.

He had grown bored previously throughout the day, and he regretted the things he had already done. He remembered how he had scolded Alec after his episode. He sat through the plan and knew he’d have to relay it all onto the other team when he could. When the discussion finished Kaelie smiled to Winn.

”Are you alright?”

”Yeah,” Winn nodded and flashed her a smile, “I’m gonna run to the store quickly, do you want anything?”

“No, I’ll come with you though.”

”No, it’s alright,” Winn smiled, “I’m going to buy you a present,” he winked and then quickly left her apartment. He glanced around before running in the direction of Lydia’s shop. He got there in record time and looked through the window. Inside, Jace, Jonas, and Lydia were clearing up the mess that Meliorn and Kaelie had made when Meliorn stopped time. Winn hadn’t wanted to take part in it. He was aware that whilst Meliorn and Kaelie were doing that in the backroom Jace was moving about. He peeked in briefly and saw that Jace had earphones in. He had to have had the music loud, he was clueless of the havoc in the other room. Winn had then turned back and walked around to the front of the counter, he also examined Jonas who was looking down towards the counter. He remembered looking at Jonas and wondering why they had decided against a relationship all those years ago. 

Now, seeing Jonas, Lydia, and Jace clearing up the store, he hated himself. He walked through the door, terrified of what their reaction could be - but prepared for the worst.

When the bell rang, Lydia didn’t look up but she spoke, “sorry we’re kind of closed right now.”

Jonas then looked up and he gasped, he stood up straight and watched Winn, “what do you want?”

Winn licked his lips and walked forward, he let out a sigh before speaking, “I have to tell you the plan Kaelie and Meliorn came up with.”

Jonas was silent, he simply crossed his arms and watched Winn. 

”I just… I don’t… I don’t want to-”

Winn could see that Jonas’s eyes were filling up with tears, “you need to leave.”

”Please, just listen.”

”Go,” Jonas pointed to the door, “Lord knows what Kaelie would do to you if she found you here.”

Winn pulled a face, “Jojo,” he let out a loud sigh, “Friday night at the city bank, six o’clock. They’ll be stopping time,” he looked to Jace who was cautiously watching him, “but I know that doesn’t affect you. I’ll see you there.”

He left the store and slowly walked out of view of the window, once away he leaned up against the wall and covered his face. He had hoped they’d listen to the truth he was telling, but perhaps they wouldn’t trust him.

Winn began to walk again, remember he’d have to buy a surprise for Kaelie since he had promised. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his walk didn’t last as long as he hoped, since Jace appeared in front of him holding out a hand to stop him. 

“Were you being serious?” Jace asked immediately.

“Yes,” Winn nodded, “and whether or not you choose to believe me… It’s up to you.”

”Why did you tell us?”

”Because maybe I had a sudden realisation that I don’t want to be running around in a world put on pause. This is all.. Selfish greed. Yes I took clothes from some stores because I’d never be able to afford them, but now they want to rob a bank - what’s the point in stealing money when you can take it for free anyway - not that that’s a good thing either. If you guys get in place before six then… Then you’ll be able to take Kaelie and Meliorn by surprise, they don’t know that you can move through the paused time,” he paused and crossed his arms, “how do you do that anyway?”

“I think it’s because of my speed, Raphael and Simon aren’t affected either.”

Winn began to smile, “so… maybe you’ll be able to apprehend Kaelie and Meliorn.”

”Maybe,” Jace nodded, he looked around and let out a sigh, “you know, Jonas won’t stop at anything to get you back.”

“I know,” Winn continued to smile, “I promise I’ll correct what I’ve done.”

Jace patted Winn on the shoulder and let out a small laugh, “alright, but if you fuck up, we’ll all be there to fuck you up.”

“I’m counting on it,” Winn nodded, “I think, perhaps you, Raphael, and Simon should stay in hiding until Meliorn’s stopped time, and then find some point to surprise them.”

”Good one, now you might want to go before they get suspicious.”

”Thank you, thank you so much,” Winn then ran off towards a store in search for some surprise for Kaelie. 

* * * * *

Jace relayed the plan to Lydia and Jonas, to begin with they watched him cautious expression and once he had finished they shared a look.

”He was genuine,” Jace whispered, “I think we should go through with it.”

”I’m sure everyone at the lab will agree,” Lydia answered sarcastically, she rolled her eyes, “let’s trust the guy who killed someone!”

Jace pressed his lips together and shrugged, “we’ll speak to everyone at the lab today.”

”No can do,” Lydia glared at him, “everyone is clearing up their stores that Winn and his friends made a mess of.”

“I’ll go around and talk to everyone one by one then,” Jace shrugged, he looked at Jonas who was leaning back against Lydia’s counter, he then stood up straight.

“I’ll come with you,” Jonas gave in, he looked to Lydia and pulled a face, “I want to get my best friend back.”

”Jonas…”

”We forgave Alec, we got him back. Winn sounded honest, Lydia, like when he told me he was bi and he thought I was cute,” he smiled as he passed of that last piece of information.

Jace and Jonas then made their way out of the store, they paused momentarily, Jace looked down to Jonas, “where first?”

“The bookstore, if anyone would be understanding, it’d be Alec.”

”Good thinking.”

Jace picked Jonas up in a bridal fashion, only pausing briefly when Jonas began to laugh, he got them to the bookstore in a split second and then set Jonas down on the ground. Magnus, Luke, and Alec looked up in surprise.

“Well, fancy seeing you guys here,” Magnus chuckled.

“We know what Winn’s team are planning and when they’re planning for it to happen,” Jonas smiled, “Winn told us.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow, “well that makes sense, the bad guy tells you his plans.”

”He’s double crossing them,” Jace shrugged, “he was being genuine with us.”

Alec began to smile slightly, “Winn is the kind of person that would do that,” he looked to Magnus, “I think.”

“He is,” Jonas nodded, “I believe him.”

”The thing is,” Jace looked around, “Meliorn will be stopping time, we’ll all want to be within the city bank before they get there. Raphael, Simon, and I will stay back until time is stopped. Due to our speed we can still move through the time, when the time has stopped we’ll find a moment to take them by surprise.”

“We’ll relay the plan onto everyone then,” Magnus smiled, “it sounds good.”

* * * * * 

The next few days had been simply planning, Winn had barely focused on the planning with Kaelie and Meliorn - because it wasn’t hard to understand. Meliorn would just freeze time and they’d take the money from the bank. They didn’t plan on having a stand off with anyone, because they didn’t know it would be happening.

The team of heroes had planned too, they had arranged for the bank to be empty at the time, they couldn’t risk the public being involved. The bank would be closed at the time, Winn had informed Jonas that he, Kaelie, and Meliorn would be entering the bank from another way. 

Jonas felt a thrill of excitement knowing he could get his friend back from this madness, he barely stopped talking to the team about it. He wanted to help his best friend, and perhaps he wouldn’t be able to - but Jace, Raphael, and Simon would be doing what they could! He knew perhaps deep down his small crush on Winn was bubbling with joy, but he had always pushed the romantic feelings aside. He just had to keep Winn in his life somehow.

Friday came around and it was suddenly daunting. It felt like life or death, the bubbles of excitement changed to chills of fear, suppose Meliorn found a way to pause Jace, Raphael, and Simon. They could only hope he didn’t - as far as they were aware, Meliorn wasn’t aware of their ability to continue moving. Winn had spoken to Jace about giving him a signal when they should make their attack. He’d simply shout ‘this is going to be far too easy’ and they’d then make the move.

The team arrived at the bank at five and cleared everyone out, several workers stayed, knowing they’d need to be in position for the villains to be fooled. Some members of the team stayed as ‘customers’, hiding their faces one way or another.

Jonas was behind a pillar with Jace, waiting for the team to make an entrance. He was leading the ‘capture’ so it was even more nerve-wracking. He had his hands on the pillar as he leaned forward, he looked back to Jace and flashed him a smile, “this is uh… scary.”

”It’ll be over before you know it,” Jace actually laughed, “because you won’t be living through any of it.”

Jonas laughed quietly and looked back to the scene, in that second he saw the three figured walking in to the bank from another exit.

“Alright,” Kaelie yelled, “everyone put your hands up in the air!”

Jonas rushed out and the rest of the team all made themselves known, Jonas flashed a confident smile, “not so fast, you guys are done causing trouble!”

“Jonas!” Winn ran forward as though he didn’t know that Jonas would be there, although in reality he was preparing to get into view for Simon, Raphael, and Jace, “I told you to leave it be.”

”Oh like I’m going to let you continue living like this,” Jonas grabbed his wrist and froze it over, “you’re not getting away from it this time.”

”I’d think twice about that,” Meliorn sneered and waved a hand through the air, Winn was still in Jonas’s froze grip.

“Let me sort him out for you honey,” Kaelie hissed.

Even for Winn, the world felt slower, he had been facing away from Meliorn and Kaelie when Jonas froze over his wrist. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kaelie raising her gun. The fear ran through him and his blood boiled, she was grinning as she aimed towards the boy who had Winn in a grip.

“As soon as he dies what his powers have caused will disappear.”

As the gunshot sounded throughout the empty bank Winn screamed, it was a scream that felt like it was ripping his vocal chords as he moved from the position he had been in.

**_”NO!”_ **

* * * * * 

Jace had been simply waiting for the signal, watching Winn carefully. When he heard Kaelie’s voice the worst came to mind and he felt frozen to the pillar. Winn was desperate and it was clear from his scream, Jace felt like he was watching the bullet move through an opposite current as it cleared the path towards Jonas, it seemed like the last second that Winn had manoeuvred from his spot. He stumbled to a stop in front of Jonas and Jace could see the sudden jolt of Winn’s body.

The bullet had hit him.

It felt far longer than it had been, Jace was never expecting that outcome. As Winn lost his footing time started again - Meliorn had obviously been surprised by the very outcome as well. Jonas had no time to react before Winn fell back onto him.

”Winn?” Jonas whimpered as he fell to the ground, he quickly realised the situation and his movement became panicky as he got into a sitting position and pulled Winn onto his lap, “Winn, hey, hey you’re going to be okay,” he spoke quickly, barely keeping track of his breathing, “Jace,” he called out, “we need to get him t-to a hospital!” 

Jace went to move and Winn held up his hand slowly and the sound of an acoustic guitar was clear throughout the shocked silence of the team, “no, Jojo,” he let out a weak laugh, “I just… One last song w-will do me fine.”

”No, Winn.”

_Over, I can’t believe it’s over_   
_I can’t believe the love I left_   
_To show some other day_

“Winn,” Jonas pleaded, “save you’re energy, you can make it if we get you to a h-”

_Listen, I hope that you can hear me_

Winn made eye contact with Jonas as he sang, he did his best to smile even as his body twitched from the pain.

_As I kneel down and pray_   
_With the love I meant to say_

Jonas had already began to tear up but by now the tears where streaming down his face, Winn’s hand moved blindly to grab Jonas’s. Jace saw the golden energy that ran around Jonas’s hand and then the already grieving boy joined in the song.

_Shadows, you took away the shadows_   
_Before you, life was black and white_   
_Though tonight the room’s gone gray_

Throughout the bank, everyone was still and silent as though they were under Meliorn’s spell, but they weren’t, instead they were watching the scene unfold. Kaelie had dropped the gun to the floor, Meliorn was stunned. Lydia had her mouth covered with her hand, by her side Alec was offering a friendly embrace. Magnus, Izzy and Clary looked as though they were going to burst into tears. Luke looked disheartened by the sight but he could barely bring himself to watch, fearing he himself might break. Across the room Simon and Raphael were stunned still, seeing the pain throughout the two men was aching for everyone.

_Golden, the love you gave was golden_

It was harder to watch when Winn was only trying to smile for Jonas, every now and then as he sang a hitch in his voice could be heard where he was struggling to breathe, it struck Jace whenever the cracks appeared. He hadn't been too attached to the boy, but in this moment he felt as though he was family.

_Gold that I would gladly pay_   
_To show the love I meant to say_

It seemed as though all of Winn’s energy went into the next portion of the song as he sang to Jonas, he kept a hold of Jonas’s hand but the younger didn’t sing with him. It made sense now. This was Winn’s declaration of love.

_Oh, music, you made me hear such music_   
_Without you hear to guide me_   
_I fear our song will fly away_

He choked slightly and Jonas only held him closer, weakly he continue.

_Sorry, that’s the word I want to sing to you_

Then Jonas sang.

_The other word is, stay_

Jonas’s fear and sorrow was present in his voice as he sang without Winn, the beautiful song was tear jerking but none of the team wanted it to end. Winn was too weak to sing by now, but Jonas still continued hoping perhaps it could last for a long time.

_To hear the love, I meant_

The final two words went unsung, there was no more guitar to be heard, in a moment of silence Jonas knew his song wasn’t finished - it never would be. In desperation, he pulled Winn’s body close to him as he let out sobs, heartwrenching sobs that brought Jace, Clary, and Magnus to tears. The sobs turned into tortured screams and it seemed as though the grip on Winn’s body couldn’t tighten anymore.

“Please Winn, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen!” He shouted as though it would cure the pain.

The only movement was Simon and Raphael making their way to Kaelie and Meliorn, the pair barely resisted arrest. Jace moved away form the pillar and towards Jonas, his focus was now only on the pained boy. Jonas was no longer sobbing, he was screaming. Winn was Jonas’s closest friend, they depended on each other, Winn had killed for Jonas. Jonas didn’t seem to have any concept of the world around him until Jace’s hand was on his back. He then glanced slightly over his shoulder and let out another choked sob. The tears down his cheeks continued to run. 

Jace knelt down and offered Jonas comfort. He only kept a hand on his back knowing perhaps the boy wouldn’t want too much affection - however Jonas then leaned back against Jace. He had let go of Winn’s body and now clung to Jace’s shirt, “he didn’t deserve this,” he whimpered weakly, “he didn’t. He didn’t.”

”Jonas,” Jace wrapped his arms around him, “he… He saved you,” Jace whispered, “he stopped you from dying.”

Jonas looked up at Jace and then over to Winn, “r-really?”

“Yeah,” Jace offered him a smile.

Jonas buried his face into Jace’s shirt and continued crying, “he loved me Jace, he loved me and… We should have had a happy ending. He should have had a happy ending!”

The silence enveloped the room again, Luke picked up Winn’s body and looked down at Jace and Jonas with a look of sorrow, sorrow he hadn’t shown before.

“I-I-” Jonas stuttered over his words, “I want to go home.”

”Alright,” Jace nodded, “I’ll take you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the pun title but it was too good.  
> Also I'm really sorry if you loved Winn, I did too!! I was crying so much when I was writing this, I swear!


End file.
